


Just One Summer

by TheBoyWhoStoppedTheApocalypse



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-25 16:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 43,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1655153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBoyWhoStoppedTheApocalypse/pseuds/TheBoyWhoStoppedTheApocalypse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amy planned on having the perfect summer after her junior year of high school. Even if all her friends were on vacation at the beach, a cruise, moving and going to a camp. Jake had no plans so he changes her plans completely. She decides to go along with it and finds herself having the best summer and growing closer to Jake. Eventual Jake/Amy but quite a lot of fluff in there. (My first fic)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is my first fan fiction and I’m kind or nervous? I don’t know if anyone will like it really. So, I’m sure I got a few things wrong and I just kinda went with something random on Amy’s brothers name.  
> I’m having serious summer fever if you couldn’t tell…  
> Well, enjoy!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic and I'm sure I got some things wrong... I chose Marcos' name on a whim really. I hope you guys enjoy it and I'd love some feedback!!!!

It was finally summer.

Amy Santiago had no plans other than to sleep in more than she would since school, get a job somewhere -she wanted to work at the library- and read as much as she wanted. Junior year was more difficult than she planed. Jake Peralta had decided to hang out with her and her friends but had mostly stuck with Gina in the beginning. She had first met him freshman year but they didn’t get off on the right foot. He liked to bug her a lot and really got on her last nerve sometimes. He made an effort to bug her more than usual the past year.

Other than Jake bugging her, she found that the work was much harder and the teachers stricter. She adjusted quickly and worked hard. ACTs were killer but she got past them by studying hard. Of course, that made her almost skip out on prom. When Gina and Rosa heard she was going to bail, leaving a certain Teddy dateless, they made her go, forcing her dress on her the night of and doing her make-up. Teddy found her pretty and Gina patted herself on the back. Jake got caught up with his own date but when he saw her he made the comment of her dress made her look like a mermaid. She mentioned it was her mother’s but had a few tweaks to it. He shut his mouth and left her alone with Teddy.

Teddy... He was gone now. He had to move away. Something about his dad’s job making them move. He had created a Skype account to keep in touch with her but she was afraid of the long distance. She was going to see how that would turn out later, though. She decided to not let that ruin her perfect summer.

What did ruin it was the insistent knocking on her window. Seriously? It was a story up. She got out of bed, not sure what to expect because this never happened to her before. The person was really not who she was expecting.

"Peralta?" She asked as she opened her window carefully. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm bored already," he said, obviously struggling to stay on. "Will you let me in?"

"Fine," she held out her hand to help him up. He took it and fell rather loudly onto her floor. She cringed, not sure if her mom was at work yet. What time was it anyway? "9:30..." she mumbled after looking at her watch.

"Don't you just look stunning," he commented with a smirk.

Her hands went to her hair instantly to comb it down blindly. "What are you doing at my house? Shouldn't you be with your friends?"

"Charles left for some weird cooking camp. Well, he's leaving in a couple hours but I already said goodbye after helping him pack. Gina's on that cruise for half the summer-"

"I remember her talking about that," she interrupted.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Rosa scares me and doesn't seem like a fun person to hang out with and well, Terry is going to spend nearly every second with his girlfriend."

"And you decided I wanted to hang out with you?"

"Well, your friends are gone too."

Since his friends were technically her friends too.

"You don't know that. Kylie could still be in town," she crossed her arms defensively.

"She isn't because you said she invited you to the beach for the whole summer but you didn't want to spend your whole time there."

"I didn't think you listened."

"I do," he smiled proudly.

"Well, maybe I had plans to hang out with Teddy."

Jake paused for a moment like he was thinking of anything she said about him. "He's moving either today or tomorrow. I don't remember which."

"Tomorrow," she confirmed. "I was planning on hanging out with him but-"

"He's doing last minute packing?"

Okay, Jake really did listen to her and remembered what she said.

"Yeah," she sighed in defeat. "I'm completely free. What did you plan?"

"I didn't," he said which surprised her because he usually planned a lot if he was going to ruin her life.

"I'm not just going to sit around-"

"Oh, how about ice cream? You eat that don't you?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" She asked.

"I thought you were on some weird diet?"

"I gave up on that a long time ago."

He smiled. "Great. Get dressed and we can go."

"Go wait in my bathroom," she pointed to the door. "You aren't going to watch me change."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "I like it when you order me around."

"You know what, wait in here instead. I'm afraid you'll do something weird in there," she grabbed some clothes quickly.

"Who says I won't do weird things in here too?"

She glared at him. "Touch anything and I'll push you out the window. I'd love to see you fall."  
He held up his hands and then proceeded to sit on her bed. She went into the bathroom and changed quickly. Taming her hair would be what would take her a long time to get ready. She had no other choice but to wet it then try blow drying it. Knowing her luck she'd end up having to put it up in a bun. When she had her hair all wrapped up in a towel she searched for her glasses out of habit but they weren't there which only meant they were on her bedside table. Jake could find them.

She heard him giggling. Sighing, she put in her contacts quickly and peeked out to find him with her glasses on.

"You are crazy blind," he said.

"I said don't touch anything!"

"I'm sorry, they were just there. Hey, can I just put them on my penis?” She gave him a look. “No? Okay, putting them down." He put them back.

She groaned and went back into the bathroom. Why was she going along with him? Moments later she stepped out with her hair in a bun.

"So, what was the point in wetting your hair?" Jake asked as he stood up.

"It looked greasy," she grabbed her shoes and slipped them on quickly. "Give me a minute to see if my mom is still here. Stay put."

"But I want to go sneaking around with you," he nearly whined.

"I won’t be doing any sneaking around. I'm going to the kitchen to grab a bagel," Jake made a slight puppy dog face. "And you one too if you’re good. While I'm down there I'll see if my mom left yet and if my brother is still asleep. Just stay, please?"

"I never get to do anything cool," he sat back down.

"You could be out there casually if you went through the front door." She left before he had a chance to say anything. She went down the stairs quickly but quietly. She grabbed her bagel and an extra for Jake. On her way back, she peeked into her mother’s room, which was empty. The rest of the house seemed empty. On her way back upstairs her brother took a double take as she went to her room.

"Who's in your room?" He asked.

"What?"

"Mom is waking you up. I saw someone in your bed," he said.

"It's no one. Just a pillow," she said.

"No, I saw a person. They moved."

"Do me a favor, get mom to come to the kitchen, do whatever you have to and I'll pay you five bucks."

He crossed his arms, "Fifteen."

"Ten!"

"Fine, deal, but I want details later," he went down stairs while she went into a room and waited. She could hear glass shatter and him curse loudly. Next she hears her mother’s footsteps pass the door. Amy rushed into her room and closed the door.

"Peralta!" She hissed.

He threw the covers off. "It was the only option."

"Okay, climb out the window. There's no way I can get you to the front door," she said.

"You'll have to help me."

"How?"

"I don't know. I just know that it's easier to climb up than it is to climb down."

"And you know this how?" Had he done this before at her house or just someone else’s?

"Everyone knows that," he said. "Fine, I'll try it on my own but don't expect me to be quiet."

"I can't believe I'm trying this," she muttered under her breath. She grabbed his wrist and moved out of her room. She pushed him down the stairs quickly and went straight for the front door. She was almost there.

"Amy?" Her mother called, barely able to see her from the kitchen.

Amy shoved Jake into the small closet by their front door. "Yes Mamma?"

"Are you going out already?" She moved from the kitchen to her daughter.

"Yes," she nodded. "My friends invited me out to eat breakfast with them and hang out as long as possible."

"I thought they were gone already."

"No, they're all leaving this afternoon," she corrected. Which, was almost a lie.

"I'm sorry we couldn't go anywhere this summer Amy," her mother cupped her daughters face in her hands. "But I can't leave work that long."

"It's okay, Mamma, I was really planning on getting a job at the library," she could almost hear Jake snort.

"Well, I'm glad you don't mind," she kissed Amy on the forehead. "Have a good time with your friends."

"I will," she smiled and went to open the closet door. Her mother finally walked away and she opened it with a sigh. Peeking back to where her mother went, she opened the front door and shoved Jake out.

"Oh my god, the library? Really?" Jake asked.

"Shut up," she shoved him. "Unlike you, I read."

"It's lame," was all he said.

They walked in silence from then on. Amy had never really been alone with Jake like this. If they were alone it was just that they got stuck as partners for school. He never did any work while she did all of it so; she never really talked to him. There really could have been better things Jake could do than hang out with her. She really didn’t understand why he wanted to hang out with her if she was so boring.

"Oh, do I get that bagel?" He asked.

"Well, you got in my bed..."

"I had no other choice. The door started opening and I was already sitting on your bed. I freaked out."

"Here," she gave him the extra.

He smiled and took a big bite out of it. Big just like his mouth. She remembered the day that she and Teddy had their first kiss. It was quick but he did at the school. Jake had seen it and once he had he started yelling that Amy had just had her first kiss ever. Everyone stared and started clapping unsurely. Jake clapped the loudest and winked before walking away. It was an embarrassing moment for her that she really started hating him even more. When they got to the ice cream shop, Jake held open the door for her. She said a quiet thank you and went on in, smiling as the cold air hit her suddenly.

"I'll order, what do you want?" Jake said.

"Uh, just some chocolate ice cream," she said after glancing at the many flavors.

"Come on, get something not boring."

"Fine, cookie dough," she said.

He went up to the counter as she sat down. He turned around after a moment. "Darling,” he called across the place that held very few people. "Cone or cup? I'd go with cup if I were you."

"What does that even mean?"

"I know how messy of an eater you are."

She glared, "Cone."

"Cup it is," he turned around.

She rolled her eyes and waited for him to come back. He handed her ice cream and ate his immediately.

"What did you get?"

"It's called Superman. Amazing," he smiled.

She nodded and the next thing she knew, he was holding out his spoon to her.

"Want to try?" He asked.

She stared at it for a second before moving forward and eating the offered ice cream. She ‘mmm'ed quietly.

"Told you it was amazing."

"I didn't question it."

Jake didn’t say anything and continued eating. She watched him carefully. He'd go to look at her but it was like he knew she was looking toward him so he wouldn't do it.

"How's Kylie anyway?" He asked suddenly.

She had forgotten he had asked her to prom and they dated for a couple of weeks but she called it off for unknown reasons. "She's good," she said. "Not missing you much."

"Ouch," he winced visibly. "Was I really that bad of a boyfriend?"

"I don’t know what happened. She just said she broke up with you and you were a little more mutual about it than she wanted," she admitted.

Jake shrugged, "Who knows..." but the way he acted made her feel like he knew.

"You guys were cute together," she commented.

"So I've been told."

"Seriously, what happened?" She asked. "You guys were really close in the beginning and then near the end of it, she seemed really annoyed by you."

"I didn't do anything! I acted like I usually do."

"Maybe that was your problem. You annoyed her out of the relationship."

He frowned deeply. "I didn't annoy her. If anything, I made her very happy at times," he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ew," she scrunched up her nose.

"Look, I don't know what happened. You'll have to ask Kylie."

"I already have. Multiple times. She won’t spill."

"Oh well," he shrugged. "Looks like you'll never find out"

"Come on, I have to know. What will it take?"

"Money," he said.

"How much?"

"Too much for you," he smirked.

She groaned in annoyance. "I'll find out one day, Peralta. Just wait and see."

"Oh, I will, but you'll never find out."

"I will."

"Until you do, you have to hang out with me. The ENTIRE summer."

"I should also get something from you if I figure it out," she said.

"Uh, yeah, my absence."

"No, more than that."

"A kiss," he joked.

"Ugh, no," she scrunched up her nose again. "Something good and worth winning for."

"Did Kylie tell you I was a bad kisser? 'Cause I'm not. She said I was amazing-"

"I don't want to hear about this again," she put her hands over her ears.

"She told you?"

"Yes," she sighed loudly.

"And...?"

"She said you really knew how to kiss," she recalled the memory. "For a guy who had only had one girlfriend before."

His eyes widened. "She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone!"

"Well, she did and we had a good laugh about it too."

He frowned. "We can always think of something later if we can't right now."

"Okay, sure but it has to be good."

"Oh, it will be and that's a Peralta guarantee."

"Sure, like last time when you said you could eat two corndogs at once then ended up choking?"

"You were amused, weren't you?"

"No, I had to give you the Heimlich."

"Well, you will be this time."

"Never has it ever amused-" she was interrupted by her phone going off. She frowned as she read the text.

"What's wrong?" He asked noticing how quickly it upset her.

"Hm?" She looked up at him. "Oh, nothing. It's-" she paused looking back at her phone for a second. "It's nothing. Don’t worry about it."

"Is it... is it the same reason you were crying a couple weeks ago?" He asked.

"When did you see me crying?" She asked. She remembered hearing someone and that it was just the week before.

"At school. Well, after school. I had just assumed you had gotten detention but-"

"They don’t have detention on Wednesday's" she finished.

"Yeah, exactly. It was stupid of me to think that. Is it the same thing though?"

"It's really nothing," she insisted.

"Okay," he sighed. "You finished with your ice cream?"

"Yeah," she pushed her cup to him and watched him eat what she couldn't. She didn't want to go home because from the text she got from her brother, it was chaotic again, but she didn't really want to hang out with Jake. It was actually a better option than having to deal with the chaos and she'd rather stay away from it.

"So, what now?" He asked, finishing.

"I don't know. You should have prepared this."

"There are plenty of things to do..."

"Great, let's do them."

"On other days…"

"Jake!"

"It's not my fault all our friends leave us and nothing goes on for the first part of summer," he threw his hands up in defeat.

"Well, I actually don't want to go home right now so, think of something."

"There's the park... we could probably catch a cheap movie. The local pool is open now."

"It's been open for awhile... I think I like the sound of going to the park, though."

"Park it is," Jake stood up. He had almost grabbed her hand to somewhat drag her out but he stopped himself remembering that she had a slight rule about others touching her.

They walked in silence again but after a little while of walking Jake started rambling on about things they could do but quickly moved on to movies he enjoyed. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone but she liked listening to him talk about the silly things he enjoyed. His mouth quirked into a small smile as he talked about them and he always had this small spark in his eyes.

When they got to the park, they chose a shaded area under a tree and sat down. He was still going on about Die Hard but she was hardly listening.

"Santiago," his voice cut her thoughts.

"What?"

"When did I lose you?"

"At Die Hard..."

"What?! Tell me you're lying!" He burst out. "That's THE best cop movie!"

"Oh, no Training Day is!" She argued.

"So,  _now_   you join in?" He asks. "I’m afraid it's a little too late, Santiago."

"You're just saying that so you'll win the argument," she rolled her eyes.

"I don't cheat," he said.

"You do, like, every single time we have an argument."

"You can't exactly cheat at that..."

"You trick me," she pointed a finger at him.

"Okay, well, it works."

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, not having a good response.

Jake smirked, "I think I like you better when you aren’t talking."

She punched his arm, making him squeal. "I like you better hurt," she said.

"That made no sense."

"Yeah, neither does your face."

Jake snorted and looked away. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. "You love my face."

"You wish," Amy replied, leaning against the tree too.

Jake smiled.

 

 

Jake's idea of lunch was getting a hot dog from a guy in the park who was selling them. They were cheap. They found a park bench to sit at and while Amy ate her dog, Jake got a picture of her. She glared at him, which he also got, and he insisted it was for black mail purposes, even memories. So, when they finished eating, they had somehow gotten involved in a big frisbee game. He threatened Amy that he was going to take her down.

Needless to say, he didn't.

"Man that was such a great day!" Jake said when they were walking back to Amy's house.

"I'll have to admit, it was pretty nice," she said.

He smiled. "See, I'm not that bad."

"You're still very unbearable," she pointed out. "We can't let you get a bigger ego than you already have."

"Nothing will bring my ego down."

"How about losing to a girl?"

"Hey, you were on a team. It's nothing bad to be ashamed of. It was... fair."

"Really? You're being such a good sport-"

"I lied. They totally cheated!" He frowned

"There it is..."

They found themselves at Amy's house soon enough, and Amy found herself lingering by the gate in front of her house. She watched Jake, waiting to see what he would do.

"Did you have fun today?" He asked, leaning on the gate coolly.

"Yeah, it was better than I expected," she admitted.

"Really?" His face seemed to light up.

"Yeah, you’re annoying but you can sure make someone have a good time," she shrugged, playing it off coolly.

"See you tomorrow then?" He asked, hopeful.

"Maybe," she sighed and opened the gate. "There's this going on and I want to go."

"The old library is selling a lot of their books?” Jake said pretended he wasn’t sure.

"How did you know that?"

"Like I said, I listen when you talk," he shrugged and started to walk away. "I can take you if you want."

"As long as you don’t make fun of me!"

"No promises!" He called down the street, a big grin on his face.

Amy rolled her eyes and went on inside. Her brother was already at the door.

"That bad?" She whispered.

"It's over," he said. "I met you at the door because I was looking out the window when I saw you with a guy who wasn't your boyfriend."

"I can have guy friends too," she moved past him.

"Is that who was in your bed this morning?" He asked. When she didn’t answer he spoke up again. "You promised to tell me details."

"Fine," she sighed. "He came to my window knocking on it. He wanted to hang out today. He's just a school friend."

"What's his name? He looks kind of familiar..."

"Peralta. Jake Peralta?"

"Oh yeah! He was always the jokester.... what are you doing hanging out with him?"

"He invited me and all my friends left. Even my boyfriend who said he'd never leave me."

"I'm sure he just meant relationship wise. He probably didn’t even expect the move, sis," he tried giving advice.

"Maybe you’re right," she said on the couch glumly.

"Did you go by and say good bye like you were planning?" He sat next to her.

"No, I was with Peralta all day. Besides, he was doing all last minute packing because he tried protesting by not packing."

Her brother snorted. "That didn’t work I'm sure."

"Definitely not."

"You'll be okay, sis. You'll get to see each other again," he patted his little sister’s shoulder.

"Yeah, that’s what he told me. Maybe later in the summer or next year."

"That's great!"

"Yeah," she smiled, trying to act excited but she didn’t feel it and she was sure it was because she didn’t believe he was going to be able to visit.

"Well, mom is cooking dinner right now."

"Dad?" She asked, knowing the answer.

"Out," he said quietly.

"Figures," she mumbled.

"They're just going through a rough spot," he assured her.

"They were better off when everyone else was here Marcos!"

"That's because they were barely seeing each other. There were too many kids to have time to sit down and talk."

She sighed. "Well, it sucks."

"You'll be gone next year and I promised not to leave until you do."

"Thanks for that by the way."

"I don't trust them alone with you when they're like this" he said.

"I wouldn't either."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have updated the crap outta this! I hope it turns out.


	2. Chapter 2

Teddy smiled at her and pulled her in for a hug. It was warm, enticing but different... He didn't feel like her Teddy and it seemed wrong. The mood was wrong. His posture. His smell. Everything was wrong. She pulled away to say something to him but it wasn't Teddy. 

Peralta?

Great. He was haunting her peaceful dreams now. She opened her mouth but no words really came out but Jake slapped a finger over her lips vertically. He laughed at the face she must have made. He moved over to a table and sat down and... /tap tap tap/ Why was he knocking on her table? _tap tap tap tap tap..._  


She bolted awake and looked at her window, a silhouette blocking the sunlight. She groaned lightly and opened the window. 

"You ready?" He asked.

"Do I look ready?" She helped him in. He still fell to the floor. 

"Nope," he said from the floor, looking up at her. 

"What time is it?"

Jake looked at his watch quickly. "Eight thirty."

"Why?" She laid back down. "I was up late last night."

"Doing what? You've got no one to talk to."

"Kylie's allowed her phone you know," she said. "And everyone else."

"So, Kylie kept you up?"

"No, I was reading and talking to Teddy," she said curling into a ball. 

"You miss him?" He finally got up. 

Amy shrugged. "I mean, of course but we always hung out so it's a little nice to get a break." 

"He was like glued to you or something."

"He was not!"

"You just said you guys hung out all the time." He was on thin ice now. 

"That doesn't mean he was attached to me," she said. "I chose to hang out with him. He's kind of my boyfriend. We have to seen each other."

"Well, you don't _have_ to," he mumbled. "I'm just saying that he-" Jake stopped talking when he looked at her. Thin ice wad broken now. 

"He what?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Never mind," he said. 

"No, tell me." She sat up.

"He followed you like a dog, you know?"

She looked at him with a mix of anger hurt and confusion. He just stared at her and shrugged.  "I mean, it's just an opinion. Some might not think that. Its just how I saw it."

She moved past him and into the bathroom. He sat down on her bed and mentally punched himself. How could he be so stupid and just hurt her like that? He knew how much Teddy meant to her because she rarely talked to any of the boys at their school and if she did it was strictly friends. Teddy was the first guy she found she like liked at their school and he liked her back, which wasn't a first. Saying Teddy followed her like a dog made him sound almost pathetic but Jake thought it was weird. He followed her everywhere and when Jake invited Amy out with their friends it was, 'sorry, Teddy and I are going out.' It was a little annoying because even though Amy could be a bummer, she made things fun. They also needed her for supervision but they found Terry was a good second to acting like the parent. Hr felt so stupid though because he could never keep that stupid mouth shut.

Amy, though, was in the bathroom doubting whether it was true or not. Yeah, Teddy did follow her but she never thought anything of it, since he mostly walked hernto class. She thought about it though, and realized he sort of did. He always asked to hang out with her, any day of the week. She shook her head and continued to get ready. Why she was still going out with Jake was beyond her. Maybe she would just bore him to death as punishment. Besides, what else had she planned on doing? 

 

 

 

Amy was still in a foul mood when they made it to the library. Jake kept his mouth shut in fear of saying something wrong again. Knowing that the library was going to be torn down bummed her out a little more but there was going to be a new one. It just didn't seem the same. She grew up with this old library but it was falling apart so they just decided to build a new one.

The air inside wasn't cold when they walked in. If anything it was hotter. Not long after being in there, Amy found herself pulling her hair into a bun again. She moved to a pile of books that were stacked neatly. The shelves had been gone for awhile, being moved for the new one. She picked up one and read the description, finding it almost interesting. They made their way through, Jake lingering behind her as she went through a lot of them. 

"What do you like the most?" He asked suddenly. 

"Hm?" Amy turned her head to him looking confused. 

"Book genre's," he pointed to the little signs. "Which is your favorite?"

"Mystery novels. You know, the ones with the amazing cops who can figure almost anything out except themselves," she started to smile. 

"Same," he said picking one up. Surprisingly, he had picked up his favorite. "Loved this one as a kid. I read it more than once."

"Whoa whoa, slow down. You read?" She asked incredulously. 

He shrugged. "My favorite out of all fifteen I've read."

"That's not that-" she stopped for a second. "Wait, fifteen?"

He nodded proudly, smiling at the look on her face. She mouthed a small wow, impressed by how many books he had read. Her guess was four and two out those four were for kids. He didn't even read the books they got assigned for school.

So, they went up to the counter where you normally checked out the books and Amy paid the full amount, not noticing the small, 'how cute' the lady said and smiles at the two of them. Jake noticed and tried to ignore it. The lady thanked them a lot and wished them a good day.  
Jake carried some of Amy's books and his, though she gave him a look that said she could handle her books, and they walked out. They nearly sighed in relief as the fresh air hit them. It reminded Amy why they so desperately wanted to build a new library. 

"That wasn't so bad, right?" She asked him. 

"No, I guess not," he shrugged and repositioned the books.

"Here, let me take some," she went to go grab some but he moved them away. She pulled her hand back. "Come on, I can handle a few more."

"I've got it Santiago," he said. 

"Fine," she sighed. "But if you drop some, it's not my fault."

"I won't drop any. I'm strong," he hefted the books up. "I can handle a pile of books."

"Okay," she said not entirely believing him. The books started to tilt over but he caught them. "I want you to read those books now. Read every chance you get."

He groaned. "I already have to do summer reading."

"You don't even do that!" She looked ay him. "Besides, one of those books is on the summer reading list. I didn't want to say it but you already find it interesting."

He looked at her, smile almost showing up on his face. "So, you tricked me?"

She shrugged, feeling a little proud of herself. 

"Okay, fine. You're reading it too, though."

"Already have."

"Dork," he rolled his eyes. 

"I keep the list and read it throughout the year so I can read other things," she defended, though, it wasn't that great of an argument. 

"Like I said, dork."

She just pouts and continued walking. They didn't say anymore. The heat was getting to her and she felt some sweat drip down the back of her neck. Which made her think to suggest taking her dads old car, that she could keep now, the next time they went out.She then thought if Jake had a car and she suddenly remembered him proudly announcing about his car. He showed it off to the group. It was an old beat down car that smells of cheese. No one really liked it but Amy, Terry and Charles told him it was a sweet car. Rosa and Gina told him it was a piece of crap. That didn't bring down his good mood. Nothing ever could.

"Wait, where are you going?" Amy asked as Jake started to go down a different road. 

"I figured we could go to my house real quick," he stopped walking. "It's kind of behind yours."

"Oh, okay," she followed him. "I didn't know that. After a year or so of knowing you I really never knew you lived behind me."

"How do you think I get to your house so fast?" 

"You run and or drive super quick."

"I do that already," he said. "Nah, I just kinda jump fences and then go up the side of the house."

"No one's caught you?"

"Almost. I had to run from some guard dog-"

"That's no guard dog. That is literally the spawn of Satan. I hate that dog. It used to chase me when I was little." 

Jake laughed. "Sorry, but that's funny. I can just see a tiny little Santiago with pigtails running down the street."

"It's not funny. He bit me once," she said firmly. "I'm deathly allergic to dogs."

Jake quieted realizing she was serious. "Oh..." was all he could say. 

"I had to go to the hospital."

"I think I remember that day," he said, looking at the sky line, trying to recall what had happened. "I was out with Charles or Gina and we pass by to see some kid get put into an ambulance in front of old Mrs. Jones house."

"She found me outside barely breathing. My arm was like a balloon, she said. It sucked."

"Im sure it did," he mumbled.  

"I'm better now," she said. "At running from the beast and I can treat myself if I get bit."

"I bet you can't even run that fast," he challenged.

"Oh yeah?" She raised an eyebrow. 

"Yeah, and to prove I can totally outrun you, we'll put these books on my porch and we'll split up and see who gets to your house first."

She considered it. "Okay, sure but you're going to lose."

"Not possible."

They dropped the books on his front porch swiftly and stood at the bottom of the steps. 

"We've got to have rules," Amy told him. "Rule one: no fence jumping. You have to run the whole way."

"Fine," he rolled his eyes. "Anything else?"

She hummed thoughtfully. "No other short cuts. If one of us say we fall, we fell. No lying either."

"That's lame," he said. "Let's just do this. Straight there, you provide water."

"Okay okay, lets go."

They both got into their running positions. Jake counted down slowly then yelled go and they both sprinted off. Amy went right and Jake went left since they were on that side of the porch. She ran as hard as she could, glancing back once knowing she was ahead, which she was. Turning the corner she saw something down the street. Something she hadn't seen in awhile because she chose to never go this way. The Spawn of Satan was out and off his leash for the first time in a long time. She moved onto the road but it went after her.She stopped suddenly, breathing heavily. There was no way out from what she could see. It would just follow her again. The race was over, because she had stopped. 

The Spawn of Satan stared at her and she stared back. The next corner was the road for her house but there was no way she would get around the dog without it running after her and even getting her. It's eyes seemed to glow and its teeth showed when it growled. Why the owners kept the dog was unknown. Though, the story went was that it was abused by its last owners and the people who owned it now were the only people it loved. 

Taking a cautious step forward, it growled louder. She tried walking backwards, keeping her eyes on it, but it followed her steps. She sighed in defeat. Then, clenching her jaw and making fists she took some steps forward. "Go!" She pointed down the street. "Go away!" It didn't move. "Go away you stupid dog!" No response except sudden barking that made her jump back. It kept barking and inching closer as it did so. 

"I- I said go away!" She yelled at it, trying to keep her ground. "Santiago!" Jake yelled down the road catching her attention. "Get away from it!"

It was at her now and bit at her hand. She pulled it away quickly and ran the other way. She ran as fast as she possibly could. When she made it around the corner she tripped over her feet and fell to her knees. He scrambled up and jumped onto Jake's front porch. The Spawn of Satan came around the corner being followed by Jake. 

"The door is unlocked!" He yelled. "Go inside! I'll get the books."

She threw the screen door then the front door open and went in. She watched through the glass as Jake jumped ahead of the dog onto his porch and how they just stared at each other. The dog barked, whimpered then went crazy before running away. He picked up all the books and went inside with a smile on his face and dog whistle hanging from his mouth.

"How-"

"I hated that dog too," he said, the whistle bobbing in his mouth. 

She wrapped her arms around herself. "Thanks, I guess," she mumbled, her hands still shaking.

He smiled but it dropped once he saw her knees."You're bleeding."

"Oh, I fell going around the corner," she said checking out her knees. 

"Did the dog bite you?" He asked. "I saw it bite at you."

"I'm fine. If it had, my hand would be really swollen by now," she checked it anyway. Nothing but some scrapes from hitting the ground. 

"Well, I'll go put these away into my room for now. You can just go into that bathroom over there and I'll help you get cleaned up," he pointed. She went over and sat on the edge of the tub, waiting for him to return. After a moment, he came and searched under the sink. Bringing out hydrogen peroxide and a rag, he moved over to her, kneeling down in front of her. 

"How did you even manage to fall?" He asked, taking her calf gently and straightening her leg slowly.

"I tripped over my feet in a rush when turning the corner," she said. She winced when the rag touched her knee. "I went really quickly."

"I heard you yelling at the dog," he said. Her leg tensed up when he touched her. He tried being more gentle. 

"Yeah, it was in front of me. I couldn't get away. It would still follow me if I tried going back."

"Glad I came to the rescue and the right time, huh?"

"Yeah, I am," she smiled a little. 

He looked up at her and smirked. The rag pressed too hard against her torn skin, making her hiss in pain. Jake moved his hand quickly and apologized quietly, putting full focus on cleaning her knees. They didn't say anything else until he finished. He put two big band aids on each knee. 

"You're hands are scraped too," he said taking one.

"Oh, yeah, just a little," she said, relishing in the warmth of his hands on hers. "I'm really okay though. I'll just wash them."

"Okay..." he let go of her hand a little awkwardly. "I can make some pizza or something while you wash up."

"Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice," she smiled. 

He moved to the kitchen and listened to the sink turning on. He put the pizza in, guessing the time because he never remembered that before throwing the box away. The sink was still going so he went to his room quickly, trying to find his favorite book. He wished he could be neater when situations like this came up because he didnt want to leave her alone, her being very awkward, but he never found that motivation again.

Eventually, he found it under his bed, under a bag of chips. He really needed to clean up...

"Peralta?" Amy called from somewhere in the house. 

He got up quickly and rushed into the living room. "I was looking for my book," he held it up.

"Oh, sweet," she took it as he tossed it at her. "It's pretty battered up..." she examined it. 

"It- it used to be my dad's," he said with some difficulty. "He liked it but left it so I kept it with me. It was already messed up before I took it. I guess I'm partially guilty for it too," he shrugged. 

"Oh..." she looked on the inside of the cover. There was his dad's name then his. Jacob Peralta... how had she never thought that was his name? "Well, the books that are torn up are always the best ones," she smiled. 

"How's that-" he paused thinking about it. "Oh, right, yeah, I get it now."

"Yeah," she looked around awkwardly. "So, what now?"

"I've got some pretty awesome cop movies," he said.

"It all depends on what you have."

He knew all the cop movies he owned by heart but he still looked at the pile. "Die Hard. The best. Lethal Weapon, Robo Cop. Not so great but Rosa gave it to me to 'straighten out my ignorance.'" Amy snorted at that. "Training Day... all the season of NCIS, Bones, and CSI."

"Training Day," Amy without second thought. 

"Seriously?" He looked at her. 

"What? It's the best movie!"

"You _really_ weren't listening yesterday," he shook his head. "Die Hard is the best."

"Uh, no, Training Day is."

"Seriously, stop speaking such blasphemy in my house!"

"I'm not! You just have an awful taste in movies," she crossed her arms.

"Stop dissing it!"

"Try and stop me."

A thick silence came between them as they stared at each other. Jake set his jaw and narrowed his eyes. Amy smirked at him, making him look away.

"So, Die Hard it is then," he said putting the movie in.

"What?"

"You said try and stop me and I chose not to, which gave you enough time to give your argument. You stayed quiet, so, I win."

"That's hardly fair."

"It's very fair," he said and plopped onto the couch. Amy found no other option but to join him at the other end of the couch of course. Twenty minutes in, their pizza finished so Jake went in to get it. He came back with two plate, handing one to Amy. 

"We've got soda. Water, tea, coffee..." he listed off their beverages. 

"Soda is fine I guess."

He tossed one to her from the kitchen which she almost didn't catch. They ate as the movie went on, nibbling on their pizzas, eyes glued to the television. Amy gt really bored with it only half an hour left in the movie. She began to leaf through the book Jake gave her. 

"Hey!" Jake threw pepperoni at her. "Pay attention!"

"Peralta!" She yelled, staring at the greasy meat on her shirt. "Seriously? Couldn't you just throw your empty can or something?!"

"No," he shook his head.

She groaned and got up. "I'm going to attempt to wash this off before it sticks."

Jake paused the movie. "We've got those stain sticks if you wanna use it!" He called after her. 

"No, I got it!" The sink turned on and he could hear her grumbling as she tried to wash her shirt. He got up and washed their plates off -sort of- and sat back down,waiting. The sink turned off but she didn't show up. There was more silence. 

"Santiago!" He whined. "Hurry up!"

"I'm right here, quit yelling," she said behind him.

He pressed play and they watched the end. Amy looking bored and Jake happy and excited like he'd never seen it fifty times over again.

"So?" He asked when it was over. 

"I've seen the movie before," she said. "I'm still unimpressed."

Jake was shocked. "How can you be unimpressed?!"

"It's just not... like training day."

"I will never watch that movie ever again," he rolled his eyes. "Or anything like that movie."

"Then we're on the same page."

Jake stopped. She was right. He didn't really enjoy her movie and she didn't for his. There really was no point in arguing.

"So, NCIS?" He asked.

Amy checked the time on her phone. "Sure, just let me answer these texts real quick."

"Fine, you have until the first episode starts." He got up.

She tapped away on her phone and laughed a little at when whoever she was texting texted back. He looked back to see her smiling. Before she put her phone away she got another message that made her smile grow. 

"Who's that?" He asked. "Teddy-licious?"

"Teddy-licious?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I was trying to think of some weird name you might call him."

"I'd never call him that..." 

"I said I was trying."

"Okay..." she said slowly. "Why's it matter to you?"

He shrugged. "I was just curious. You were over there smiling like a little school girl talking to her crush."

"It wasn't Teddy," she said. 

"What? You're cheating on him?!"

"No, you idiot!" She tossed a couch pillow at him. "I was talking to Kylie and she sent stupid pictures."

"Oh, one's like her in a bikini?" He wiggled his eyebrows. 

"Do you want me to throw this can at your head?"

"Come on, don't be such a buzz kill."

"Don't talk about my best friends like that."

"Okay, fine. The show's starting. If everyone would kind enough to silence their cell phone's..." he gave a pointed look to her then sat down. 

"It's on silent," she whispered to him.

"Good."

 

 

By the third episode, Amy said she should head home. Jake offered to walk her home and carry her books. They halved the pile because Amy argued she could carry them all but Jake said he really didn't mind carrying them. So, they agreed on half. Jake kept the dog whistle in his back pocket, just in case. The Spawn of Satan never went the other route but he could tell Amy was uneasy about the situation, even if she wouldn't say she was. He listened to Amy go on about the books because he liked listening to her talk. No words registered in his mind -not that the subject of book reading was his favorite topic of conversation anyway- as she went on and on and on. -Something no lover of hers had ever said- 

When they made it to her house he told himself to quick being sad that she had to go. The feeling disappeared when she smiled at him because it replaced it with a weird twist in his stomach. _You're just hungry or something,_ he told himself. Marcos was at the door and took the pile Jake was carrying away. Amy told him she had a pretty fun day again and told him he better have something planned for the next day. He didn't but he made a note to look for something to do. Something she'd enjoy doing again because he liked seeing her face light up the way it does when she does something she loves. _Not that it matters that I have to do stuff like that. She's just a friend,_ he thought again. So, he walked home alone the tight feeling in his stomach still there.

He wouldn't admit there were some feelings he had for her. She was happy with Teddy-licious, obviously. _Obviously you dumbo. Don't think it could ever happen._ He went on with the rest of the afternoon with those thoughts in mind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was suuuuuper long. So sorry!  
> Okay, I'm going to say this real quick... As much as I'd love to write every single day, I won't. That's kind of a lot of days and not enough creativity. I've got quite a few ideas stacked up but if you want to suggest some too, that would be great.  
> Thanks for reading!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, my wi-fi was out for like a week. This might be short and really lame. If the spacing is weird I apologize because I've tried and tried and tried to fix it, so yeah, enjoy!!

"Knock knock," Jake said while also knocking on the window frame. 

Amy turned around from her desk. "Hey, you got in just fine without me," she gave him a skeptical look. 

Jake just shrugged. "You're up awfully early." 

"My phone alarm decided to turn itself back on and wake me up at five in the morning," she said with a frown. 

"You got up at five on school days?" 

"Just in case, you know," she shrugged. 

"How did you not die?"

She held up her coffee. 

"Oh, thanks," Jake said taking it from her and drinking from it. 

"Hey! That was my answer, not an offer!" 

"Still good though," he handed her coffee back. 

She pouted and put in down on her desk. She put her bookmark in the book she was reading and looked up at him again. He looked down at her, looking a little confused. "What?"

"I'm waiting for the crazy plan that's for today," she answered.

"Well, there's this kick ball match that I've been invited to that may or may not have the vulture on the opposite team," he said. "I thought of just inviting younto watch me kick his ass but Charles isn't here so, you wanna play?"

"Kick ball?" She questioned. "Isn't that for kids?"

Jake gasped audibly. "Kick ball, for kids only? How dare you think that Santiago?"

"Oh, wait, I forgot you are a kid," she rolled her eyes.

"Please?" He begged. "We need one more player."

"Why don't you ask Rosa?"

"She's been banned from playing kick ball," he explained. "She was too rough and didn't make the game 'fair'. Whatever that means."

"It means," Amy sighed. "She scared everyone on the opposite team and injuring people really isn't legal in actual sports either."

"Yeah, that's why I came to you," he said giving a classic smile that most girls fell for. "You're like the second strongest girl I know."

"Thanks," she rolled her eyes.

"And that's why I want you on my team!"

"Fine, I'll be on your stupid kick ball team."

"Yes!" He held up his hand for a high five. "That's the spirit Santiago!"

She stared at his hand then got up.

"Oh, come on! Don't leave me hanging!"

"I've done it before and I always will," she said, entering her bathroom with the clothes she had grabbed.

He pouted but at least he had gotten her on his team. 

 

 

"Who knew you and Charles basically had the same shirt size."

"I can't believe you guys have team shirt," she rolled her eyes. "Couldn't you just wear the same color?" 

"It's called a uniform," Jake told her. "This is a very serious game."

" _Obviously._ " 

"Good, then you understand."

"I was being sarcast--"

"We're here," Jake interrupted her, grin on his face and hands resting on his hips. "Okay, please tell me you were listening when I explained thr rules."

"Of course."

"Great, let's go," he walked forward, not caring if he was leaving her behind. "This is my team. Team, this is our back up, Amy Santiago."Amy looked at everyone on his team. The only person she knew was Terry. Everyone else was just people she saw around school. They all stared at her and she waved a little. 

"A girl?" A guy piped up incredulously.  
"What's wrong with a girl on your team?" Amy asked.  
"Nothing except for the fact that you don't care about sports."  
"This isn't even a legit sport!"  
"Jake, she's just like Rosa!" The guy whined.  
"Yeah, she said the same thing but she kicked ass," Jake said. "Literally."  
"Amy's tough," Terry said.  
"She's the second toughest girl I know!" Jake backed him up. "No one can beat Rosa. Sorry Santiago."  
"I'd hate to be the person who beat her," she said.  
"Okay, one more word about how girls can't play sports or that they don't care or whatever, isn't playing next time. We need to work as a team, and beat The Vulture!" 

"You just want to win," Amy said quietly after they all broke up.

"There's supposed to be a small trophy. No big deal or anything. I also get to see him lose," he grinned evilly. "Okay, Santiago, youre up first. Dont listen to anyone else unless they're on you're team trying to help you."  
She nodded and walked up. It was silent.  
"Brought another girl, Peralta?" The Vulture called out. "Oh, prepare to lose. That big white ass is mine."  
"You can do this Amy. Just focus!" Jake ignored him.  
She didn't miss at all.  
They were winning.  
They were actually winning by a long shot, even against The Vulture's team. They weren't the best team but they were good. They were even better with Amy. Her competitiveness and Jake's combined made the team step up their game. It was the last shot before the game was over.  
"You got this Jake!" Amy yelled from the second base. 

He stared at Pembroke who was tossing the ball. He rubbed his hands together. The ball moved closer and closer then-

It was basically flying, going far over all their heads.  
"Run!" He heard most his team yell to both him and Santiago. She sprinted to the home plate. He went to first, second, third, then home plate where Amy was waiting, panting.  
"Did you see that kick?!" He practically yelled at her with the biggest grin on his face.  
"It was amazing!" She grinned back.  
He pulled her into a tight hug in excitement as he got to her and spun her in a circle a few times. She laughed at him. The rest of his team ran up and their hug turned into a group hug. Jake set her down and they all cheered, which Amy found silly.  
"Wait, where did the ball go?" Jake asked.  
"It went over the fence!" Terry said, eyes gleaming.  
"Are you serious?" Jake sputtered.  
"I watched it go," Amy said. "It was amazing!"  
"To Sal's pizza we go then!" Jake declared.  
They all moved away and went to the exit. Jake and Amy watched Pembroke glare at them angrily. Jake smiled triumphantly. 

"Hey, Santiago!" The Vulture. "Care to ditch that loser and hang out with my team? We go to a place that actually sells good food."

"Why would I?" She asked. "You lost which means you're the loser and not Jake."  
She heard Jake laugh. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her away before any more words could be spoken which could result in a fight.At Sal's, Jake set their little trophy in front of him and ordered the biggest pizza they could get. They all talked about the game with their big victory. Amy got up saying that Teddy was calling her and she had to take it.  
"Celebrate Jake!" Terry said when he noticed his friend wasn't in on the whole celebration.  
"I'm celebrating," he said. "See?" He held up a pizza slice and gave a half hearted 'woo'  
"Come on man, what's up?" Terry asked. "You were so happy and you did something amazing! You'd be so excited!"  
"It's nothing just-" Jake paused, looking over his shoulder to look at Amy. "It's nothing. Just tired from all that playing, you know?"  
"You never get tired," Terry raised an eyebrow. Jake looked over his shoulder again after hearing Amy laugh. "Ooooh, Amy huh?"

"What?" Jake looked at him.

"You like Amy don't you?"  
"Where did you get that crazy idea?" Jake scoffed. "I don't like Amy."  
"Okay but you did stop when she left."  
"She's just missing out and Teddy always calls her. It's ridiculous," Jake shrugged like he didn't care. "It doesn't even matter to me. She's just missing out on all this. I think she would actually enjoy herself, even though she's so boring and like an old lady"  
"I think there's too much testosterone for her," Terry said.  
"Or idiots." A few of his team mates gave him a look. "In her case. I wouldn't say that," he held up his hands defensively.  
"Hey, Peralta," Amy said standing next to him. Not sitting. "Teddy said he finally got his camera set up and he's taking a break from packing. You don't mind if I go, right? You've got some great... friends here."  
"No, yeah, it's fine. You guys haven't seen each other in, what, three days?"  
"Technically four," Amy said. "He didn't come the last day."

"Oh, right, because it was optional and you went because you're, you."

"Yeah," she shrugged a little. "I'll see you later then. Have fun!" She picked up her small sports bag and walked away, giving a wave to his team.  
"I have to admit," the guy that whined earlier said. "She's pretty hot."  
"She's got a boyfriend," Jake said, staring at the door. "A really really clingy boyfriend."  
"Still hot though."  
"Yeah," he agreed quietly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't absolutely sure about this one but I think it's good. Sorry if it's like super long... I wrote this awhile ago during school and I lose track of what I'm writing when I do that.  
> Enjoy!!!

It was a week and a half later that they had something to do again. Most of their days were filled with watching movies or tv, with the occasional calls from Teddy that took Amy away for awhile. Jake didn't care, that's what he told himself, because they were dating but she was still missing out on good tv time. She never really liked leaving Jake alone for more than ten minutes but Teddy never kept it short. She wouldn't say it but she felt a little guilty. During that time, Amy had gotten into the habit of leaving her window unlocked. She said that if he did anything to her while she slept, he would wish he was dead. He never did. Well, until this morning. This morning, he splashed water on her face. (Not a little sprinkle)

"What the hell--?"

"Rise and shine, Santiago!" He said loudly.

She sat up with a glare and he nearly laughed at how she looked like a wet puppy.

"We're going to the pool today. Get your swimsuit on!"

She noticed he had swimming trunks on as well as a tank-top. His usual sneakers were gone and replaced with flip flops. She dragged herself out of bed and searched through her drawers. Luckily, her mom had made her go shopping for a new one before school ended because the other one wad way too small.

"Wait on my bed," she ordered and moved to her bathroom. After slipping the suit on, she looked in the mirror. Her hair was messy but there was no point in fixing it so she pulled it into a ponytail. Checking to make sure she had shaved good enough, which she had, she put her shorts and tank-top on and walked back out to Jake.

"Ready?" He asked nearly hopping up.

"Let me grab my shoes," she said.

They walked down together. Jake always timed it right to get inside as her mother was leaving for work. Marcos stopped caring because he knew Amy wouldn't do anything worse than let Jake in without their mother knowing.

"I brought my car today," Jake said.

She perked up a little. "No walking?"

"No walking," he confirmed. "Though, I was thinking sandwiches for lunch, which you should provide."

"Fine," she said. "I didn't expect you to actually buy or make lunch since you're driving your car."

"Gas is expensive."

"I'm not going to argue with you on that one," she said, pulling the bread and meat out. "There's some chips in that closet there along with plastic bags." She made their sandwiches while Jake got the chips and drinks. They put it all in a teeny ice chest and headed out the door.

"Oh, did you get sunscreen?" She asked as they got to his car.

"Sunscreen, tanning lotion, anything," he put their lunch in the back. "I've got like six or seven bottles."

"Good because I'm not burning and as funny as it would be to see you burn, you really shouldn't."

"Who says I burn?"

"Your face and shoulders when we came back from spring break. You looked like a lobster raccoon hybrid."

"Okay, so, we forgot sunscreen."

She smirked knowing she was right. Jake started the car and drove off after she climbed in. Amy texted while he drove, telling her mom what she was doing. Teddy had asked if she was awake and she just responded with a simple 'yeah.'

"What smells like old cheese?" She looked up from her phone.

"That would be the car," Jake replied. "It doesn't exactly agree with the heat," she crunched up her nose. "Or the rain, or even the cool weather. I would offer to roll the windows down more but they're stuck at halfway forever."

"Why do you even like it?"

He shrugged. "It was cheap. So, maybe the gas mileage isn't great and the gas for it is super pricey but it's a nice car. It gets me around places and luckily doesn't break down for as old cars go."

"It's not _bad_ ," Amy said. "Just... old."

"And with old cars comes tapes that have awesome music," he turned the volume up as some song she didn't know blasted trough the speakers. He jammed to it while she continued to text people.

"Okay!" He said over the music. "We are here!" He turned the car off but the music kept going. He turned that off too. "I always forget it does that..."

Amy rolled her eyes and got out. "Is this the place you have to reserve?"

"Yeah."

"Why not the free one?"

"It's bigger but there's always a ton of people and this one is considerably better," he grabbed their teeny ice chest and towels while Amy grabbed the sunscreen bottles.

"We could have gone," she said. "I don't see the point in paying to swim."

"I knew you'd like this one better," he said. He punched in the key number they gave him and opened the gate. "Besides Terry, his girlfriend and Rosa are coming in a little bit."

"So, that's why you reserved this one?"

"Uh, yeah," he shrugged and set their stuff on the tables there. He took his tank-top off and started to put sunscreen on. Amy followed suit. He looked over to see her in a peach and white striped bikini and felt himself stop breathing for a second. She lathered the sunscreen on her arms, paying no attention to his lingering eyes. When she finished, she looked up at him, halfway rubbing his in.

"What?" She asked.

"Uh, what?" He blinked.

"You were staring at me. Did I get some in my hair?" Her hand flew up to her head.

"Yeah, just a little. Let me get it," he reached out and pretended to wipe it from her hair. "There, you're all good."

"Thanks," she smiled which made his stomach twist.

_You're just hungry Jake. Should've eaten breakfast..._ he thought to himself. He finished rubbing in the sunscreen as Amy sat down in one of the chairs by the pool. He moved over to her and sat too. They had to wait before getting in.

"It's nice though," Amy said.

"What is?"

"This pool. No yelling or crampiness. Just us," she explained. "It's very nice, and look, a diving board!" She pointed at it. "It's very high..."

"You gonna jump?" He asked her.

"I don't think so."

"What? Why not?"

"I've never done it before."

"Not even the short ones?"

"Well, of course the short ones," she said. "Those are easy."

"Then why not that one?"

She shrugged.

"Hey, Peralta!" Came Terry's voice. "Let us in!"

He jumped up and ran over to them. Amy kept her mouth shut, refraining from telling no running at the pool. Jake came back followed by Terry his girlfriend and Rosa.

"Hey Rosa, " Amy smiled at her.

"Hey," she said in the same monotone voice as usual.

"What have you been up to?"

"Got a job. Between that, sleeping and hanging out with a guy."

"Oh, what guy?" Amy asked really interested. "Do I know him?"

"No, he's over here for the summer. We bumped into each other at work," she said. "He's nice I guess. Great ass though."

"Oh... sounds pretty dope."

"What about you?"

"Jake has come over just about everyday. We've found stuff to do. If not we just watch TV."

Amy could have sworn she saw Rosa's lip twitch into a quick smile.

"Hey, it's nice," she shrugged. "I'm not alone."

"We could always hang out if you want. I'm not THAT busy."

"We should have a girls day when Gina gets back," Amy suggested. "I'm sure Jake would love a day to himself."

"Yeah, maybe."

Amy sat there for a second. "It's different I think. I really don't mind him coming over. It's pretty fun to hang out and stuff. We have a good time."

"Jake's not bad," Rosa said looking over at Amy.

"That's so sweet Santiago!" Jake said behind her, wrapping his arms around her. He started to pick her up.

"Augh, Peralta!" She yelled, surprised. "What are you doing?!"

"Getting you to swim!" He walked them over to the pool.

"I can get in--" she stopped because he was already falling backwards into the pool. She squealed before she hit the water. They both came up at the same time, Jake grinning evilly and Amy glaring at him.

"Not cool!" She hit his shoulder.

"That was awesome, don't lie!"

"Whatever," she swam away.

"Terry's coming down!" Terry yelled from the diving board.

"Go go go!" Jake yelled to Amy. "Swim away while you can!"  
  
They both moved from where Terry could hit them and watched him jump in.

"That was good babe!" Called his girlfriend who then got in herself.

Jake looked at Amy, a weird glint in his eye.

"No," she backed away. "I'm not jumping."

"It's not even that high!" He followed her.

"I'm not doing it," she said, finding herself in a corner.

"I'll do it first to show you how okay it is!" He offered. "I mean, Terry is like a rock so it doesn't mean a thing when he jumps."

"Fine," she sighed. She watched him get out and climb the ladder. He pointed to Amy who had moved to watch then jumped while screaming "CANONBALL!!" He popped up seconds later. 

"Your turn Santiago," he grinned.

She huffed lightly and took the small staircase out of the pool. Slowly, she made her way to the ladder. Then went up just as slow. At the top, she looked down warily.

"Come on, Santiago!" Jake yelled. "I'm right here okay?"

"Okay... I'm going now!" She didn't go.

"Rosa, now!"

"Rosa--?" She was cut off by a pair of hands pushing her over. Before she knew it, she was under water again. She came back up sputtering. "What was that?!"

"You weren't going so Rosa pushed you," Jake said. "That wasn't so bad, right?"

"It would have been better if I wasn't pushed," she wiped at her eyes to get the water out of them.

"You should go again then."

"Maybe later."

"Okay, then who wants to play a game of chicken!" He asked loudly.

"There's five of us," Terry said.

"I'll ref," Rosa said from her chair.

"Okay, me and Amy on a team," Jake said. "Terry, you and your girlfriend."

"Oh, you're going down, Jake," Terry cracked his knuckles.

"I'm going to pretend to not be intimidated," Jake squeaked out.

"Wait, what's chicken?" Amy asked.

 

 

 

 Jake and Amy won.

Terry's girlfriend wasn't really good at it in the first place but when Jake and Amy were put on a team, there was no mercy. They were both already competitive enough on their own. Rosa barely watched, just reading or texting while they played.

In the beginning, Jake had trouble focusing well because all he could think was of her legs wrapped around his shoulders and was just _right there_. He focused quickly after she got upset and thumped his head. When the game was over, he let go of her and she fell backwards with a laugh. She floated for awhile before Jake declared lunch.  
They all ate quickly and quietly, wanting to get back in as soon as possible. Of course, Amy made them all wait thirty minutes, so, they just talked. Terry's girlfriend decided to sit out in the sun. Amy and Terry got in just swimming around because Jake and Rosa were still having a hushed conversation.

"Hey, Terry," Amy said to him. "Can you throw me?"

"What kind of question is that?" He asked offended.

"I meant, are you willing?" She explained. "Like will you?"

"Oh, sure thing Ames." He went behind her, picked her up by her hips and tossed her across the pool. She squealed excitedly before going under.

Jake turned his head to see what was going on. Rosa got his attention again so he ignored them for a second. Before Terry would throw Amy, Jake would look over quickly. Amy looked happy which made him smile.

"Are you even listening?" Rosa asked.

"Of course I'm listening!" He turned back to her. Amy told Terry 'Again! Again!' Like a little kid. She added a quick please. Jake looked over. "Careful Terry, it looks a little close."

"I know my strength," he said throwing Amy. It was too close and they all knew it once he threw her. Fear went through Amy and she basically flapped her arms to stop but it didn't help. Everything felt like it slowed down. She heard someone yell her name before she slammed into the side of the pool. She was under water though and not face planting the concrete.

"Amy, you okay?" Came Jake's voice when her head came out of the water.

She opened her eyes and coughed a little. "Yeah, yeah, I think so." She looked over to see that they were very close. She noticed how close they were, his arm wrapped around her middle.

"That was too close," Jake sounded scared.

"Amy! I'm so sorry!" Terry was beside them. Jake let her go quickly but she kept her hand on his upper arm. "I didn't think you were that close."

"It's okay," she waved it off. "I'm fine now."

"I could have ki--"

"Let's let her sit down for awhile," Jake cut him off. Terry nodded and Jake led her out of the pool. He grabbed the towel she used during lunch and wrapped it around her shoulders, then sat her next to Rosa.

"You think you'll be okay over here or do I have to watch your here too?" He tried joking.

"I'll be /fine/" she sighed like she was annoyed but she really wasn't.

"Okay, well, I'll be in the pool... if you need me," he walked backwards into the pool.

"That was close," Rosa said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah... it was."

"He tackled you like a football player," she sounded somewhat impressed. "I've never seen him move so fast."

"Oh, really?" She asked.

"Yeah, it was kind of cool to watch," she said putting her hands behind her head. "Not that watching you almost get hurt is cool..."

"I get what you're saying," she leaned back and looked over at her friend. Though her face was straight,  she saw worry there too.

"You think it'll stop you from doing other stuff? 'Cause you're already cautious as it is."

"I don't think so," she said. "I came out of it okay."

"Okay, cool  'cause it'd be annoying if you're more cautious than you are. It would be super boring to hang out with you then."

It didn't sound like it but what she meant was, 'I'm glad you're okay' which made Amy smile. 

 

 

 

What seemed like a couple hours but was only one, Amy asked Rosa if it was okay to go back in. She didn't care. Amy went to the diving board and climbed the ladder easily.

"Look out boys!" She called down, watching to see Jake and Terry stop their splash fight or whatever they were doing. "I'm coming down!" Then she jumped. This time as she went through the air, she felt giddy and not scared. She came up with a grin.

"Holy  _shit_ Santiago!" Jake said swimming up to her. "That was amazing."

"It _was_ pretty dope," she replied.

"I told you it was fun," he hit her shoulder playfully. She hit him back.

"That was impressive, Amy," Terry said patting her on the back which felt like a punch. Her arm found Jake's for support.

"Thanks," she gushed.

"You wanna do it again, right? " Jake asked.

"Maybe in a few minutes."

During the 'few minutes' which turned into half an hour, Jake messed with Amy,  grabbing her ankle under water a few times. The three of them chased each other when they did something risky. Terry said he had to leave and took his girlfriend with him. Rosa said her boyfriend was on his way to pick her up. Jake splashed water on her which she tackled him to the ground. He laughed off the pain.

"She was so boring," he said when she left.

"She doesn't swim often," Amy said.

"Dive again," he grinned pulling her arm.

"Okay," she hopped out of the pool and climbed quickly.

"Don't be a wuss," he said when she stood there for a second too long.

"Not even in you wildest dreams," she said before jumping canon ball style.

"You should see this lake that has this cliff that absolutely perfect for jumping," he said swimming to her. "It's higher than that."

"We should go one day," she said. "Sounds great for the days we've got nothing planned."

"We're taking my car."

"No way! We'll take mine."

"You've got a car?"

"Of course," she rolled her eyes. "My dad got it for me. How do you think I got to school?"

"I just thought you took the subway."

"Gross, not anymore."

"Fine, we'll take your car but listen to my music."

"Fair enough."

"I drive."

"What? No way, it's my car."

"I know the way," he pointed out.

"Fine," she sighed. "I'll be in charge of lunch?"

"And dinner and snacks."

She made a mental list. "Okay, got it."

"Let's go next week," his eyes lit up.

"Okay, let's go next week," she smiled.

 

 

In late afternoon, they left when a family came. They gathered their things quickly and left. Jake drove her home. He left the music off because she was talking and planning their trip. _H_ _ow far is it? Should we camp there? /can/ we camp there? Would it be better to sleep in my car or a tent? The seats lean back far enough, mi think._ (They did. She tested it.) _Should we eat out for breakfast? Would we even leave that early? How long should we be gone?_ Questions like that were asked the whole way, but he didn't care because her excitement rubbed off on him easily. She made notes on her phone of everything they would need and decide what she had when she got home. What she didn't have, Jake had to check for at his house.

"Stay here real quick," she said when she got out. "I'll go ask my mom if I can go. Next week, we leave Thursday morning, come back Friday afternoon? Or Saturday morning, depending on weather and or fun?" He nodded and watched her walk up her long driveway. He waited a few minutes, listening to music but he couldn't help but think of what he and Rosa were talking (more along the lines of arguing) about.She said it was obvious he liked Amy (which he rolled his eyes because Charles had already told him this) and hr needed to man up. He told her he didn't like her. It was crazy. What else could he say? He really had no idea what his feelings were anymore.

Amy skipped down her driveway with a grin. "My mom said it was totally okay! She doesn't even care that it's just the two of us."

"Sweet," he smiled. "Text me the list and I'll see what I've got."

"I don't have your number..." she said going through her phone quickly. There it was, with a picture of him she hadn't taken. "Did you steal my phone?"

He shrugged. "I wouldn't call it stealing. You left it right beside me."

She wanted to frown but she smiled.

"You should look through your pictures more often. You're like a rock when you're asleep." With that, he drove off.

When she got into her room, she looked through her phone's photo album. The most recent was his icon because it was just from a couple days ago. It rained on them unexpectedly while they went on a walk.Marcos only got one towel and Amy called after him but he never came from his room so she went inside. He must have stolen her phone then. The next three were of him laying next to her carefully on her bed, poking her face and laughing by the grin on his face. There was one with her glasses on his face. The last one was just her sleeping peacefully.

"Jake, you creep."

She didn't hide the smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first of all, I started writing this chapter after I saw TFIOS so I became strangely inspired. Another thing, I don't know if you guys know this but there's this little part in here where Jake sings a little "some people like grape jelly. Some people like apple jelly but the kind of jelly that I want in my belly is petroleum jelly," was this singer dude that would sing it at these story telling festivals (he had to stop 'cause kids ate petroleum jelly even though he said not to) so I just wanted to explain that. Enjoy!!!!

 

 

Jake called her the next morning to wake her up. She found out that not only had he set a tone for text messages from him, which was a recording of him saying repeatedly 'Hey, Santiago, text me back,' for a good thirty seconds, he'd set a tone for when he called her which was a song she didn't recognize.

"Hello?" She mumbled, still tired.

"How does a movie sound today?" He asked.

"Depends on what movie," she said. "We've really watched all the movies I own that we could agree on."

"No, like going to an actual movie theater and seeing a new movie."

"Okay, what movie?" She sat up and stretched, a quiet moan escaping her lips.

"The one with the faulty stars or something. I heard girls like it," he said, ignoring the weird noise she just made.

"The Fault in our Stars?" She corrected.

"Yeah, that one. I heard some girls talking about it coming out and I don't know if you said you wanted to see it or not but it seemed like a movie you'd watch."

"Yeah, the book is really good," she said.

"Okay, good, because I got these tickets the other day and it would have been really crappy if you said no," he told her relieved.

"Why did you buy them a few days ago?"

"I got them for eleven thirty. I figured I'd let you be able to eat before we went," he said obviously avoiding answering her question. "I'll see you in a few?"

"Yeah, sure," she said. "I'll probably be downstairs when you come."

"Okay," and he hung up.

She was in the kitchen making breakfast for the both of them, when Jake came down the stairs not so quietly.

"Morcos is still asleep," she said to him quickly.

He just jumped from the middle of the stairs, making her glare.

"If he comes down angry, I'm not stopping him and blaming you fully," she threatened.

He just shrugged. He'd be scared if it was a different brother but Marcos thought he was pretty cool and didn't hate him. Not yet at least.

"Whatcha making?" He asked leaning over her shoulder to take a look at what she was cooking.

"French toast and eggs."

"Um, this just looks like... a blob of mess," he pointed out.

"It's going to be good, trust me," she assures him.

"Okay," he steppes away from her and hopped up on the counter. As he sat down he knocked something over. "What are you using baking soda for?"

"We were out of salt," she shrugged.

"That- Amy, just because they're both white doesn't mean they're interchangeable."

"I thought they were like the same thing."

"Who puts salt in eggs anyway?"

"We do. And pepper."

"Well, it's not going to be good," he hopped off the counter and took the pan off that had french toast. He tossed the bread into the trashcan.

She pouted a little. "I thought I could make us breakfast."

"We can just have toast or something," he said throwing away the eggs now.

She got the bread out again and put in two pieces for each of them. Jake put the pans in the sink, listening to them sizzle a little.

"Well, if you're such a cook expert, why don't you cook something?"

"Because I can't cook either," he said sitting back on the counter. "I say that I have breakfast burritos in the morning," which he said he had every other morning when breakfast was brought up on day, thanks to Charles. "Though, it's just gummy bears wrapped in fruit roll ups."

She scrunched her nose. That had to be the most unhealthy breakfast. Not like hers were any better... just a quick stop at that cute little doughnut shop and always get the daily special. Hers had to be better than his though.

The toast popped up, making her jump a little.

"Jelly?" Jake asked, hopping off the counter again.

"Fridge door," she replied.

"Oh, yes," he brought out the only two they owned. "Some people like grape jelly," he started to sing. "Some people like apple jelly. But the kind of jelly that I want in my belly is..." he trailed off, pointing at her to finish. She had no clue what he was going on about. "Come on, petroleum jelly."

"That's unsafe," she said handing him his plate.

"Ah, never mind, the moment's passed," he sat down.

She picked the apple jelly while he went with grape. He was silent for once, only because he had food and Jake Peralta never turned down the opportunity to eat. Amy looked up at him from glancing over the newspaper her father left and laughed.

"What?" He asked. "Those better be the comics you're laughing at."

"No, you've got jelly on your face," she quieted her laughter.

"If I had a mustache I would so save it."

"Oh, gross, Peralta!" But she laughed some more. "Come here," she held out her hand. When he moved forward, she wiped it off with her thumb. She couldn't help but pause from the look he gave her. It showed very little fear but most of all, want. He cracked a smile quickly then licked the jelly from her thumb because he knew she'd hate it.

"Ew!" She pulled her hand back. "You're so gross!"

"So I've been told," he grinned and watched her move to wash her hands.

"I can't believe you," she said when she sat back down.

"Gotta love me."

They both stopped because he couldn't believe he had just said that, even though it could have been taken in more of a friendly sibling type of way. Amy honestly didn't know how to reply to something like that.

"I'm gonna go get ready," she said, eating her last bite of toast. Jake just nodded and watched her leave. If only Charles could answer his phone right now...

 

 

  
"You bawled like a baby!" Jake said as they left the theater.

"Shut up!" She smacked him in the chest. "At least I wasn't as bad as the other girls in there."

He smiled. "True but you just cried and cried and cried."

"Hey, you thought I didn't see that tear but I saw one."

"Yeah, from yawning," he rolled his eyes.

"No, don't even try. You teared up!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down," he looked around them.

"You so did!" She grinned.

"So what?" He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I mean, it wad pretty sad and all...."

"It was horribly sad."

"You tell no one," he gave her a pointed look.

"My lips are sealed," and she sealed them. "Unless...."

"Unless what?" His face was covered with worry.

"Nothing," she shrugged but she had an evil smile. "It's nothing."

"No one!" He said. "Not even my mother!" He opened the door for her and she walked out.

"I haven't even seen your mother," she said. "I've barely even been over to your house."

"Then you should come over more often."

"Stay at home tomorrow morning. I'll call you or even wake you up myself."

"You're gonna do something to me, aren't you?"

"Maybe," she smirked. "But then again... maybe not."

"Should I fear for my life?"

Amy just shrugged keeping quiet. "Hey, wanna go grab some ice cream?" She asked, obviously changing the subject. "I'll pay."

"Deal."

 

 

They got their ice cream and sat down somewhere in a corner to escape from the younger teens in there.

"You know, I'm kinda glad Rosa gave me those tickets. It was a good movie," Jake said.

"I thought you said you bought those tickets," she said.

"I said I got tickets. Never said I bought them," he replied. "But yeah, she called me up saying she had tickets because her boyfriend got them to go see the movie with her but she didn't want to go. She came over to my house and gave them to me. It was pretty cool."

"Couldn't you pick up some random chick like you do and go with her?" She asked. "Not that I didn't want to go, I'm just... asking."

"I tried," he shrugged. "It didn't go well. They were all either going with boyfriends, that seriously didn't go well AT ALL, or with their friends."

"So I was your last choice." It didn't hurt her feelings in any way. It wad just the truth.

"Uh, yeah, you were," he lied, not looking at her. She was his first choice, if he had to pick a girl. "Secret's out I guess."

"If you wanna know a secret, I'd rather go see that movie with you than Teddy."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, if I started crying he'd start asking if I was okay until it ended. He'd worry too much."

"Yeah, then you'd start crying more," he joked.

"Why?"

"Because of okay?"

"Oh," she laughed a little. "I guess you're right about that."

"I'm always right," he smiled.

"Yeah, sure," she rolled her eyes a little. Before she could say anything else her phone began to ring. "Speak of the devil I guess," she said then picked up her phone.

"You should answer him," he said noticing her hesitation.

"Oh, it's not him. It's Kylie." She answered before it went to voicemail. "Hey, Kylie!" She smiled.

"Oh, Kylie huh?" Jake asked quietly.

"Shut up," she mouthed. "Oh, I'm not too busy," she noticed the fake hurt on Jake's face. "I'm just hanging out with Jake." There was a pause as Kylie answered. "Yeah, Jake Peralta. The one who broke your heart for reasons still unknown to me."

"Come on I wasn't THAT bad," he said.

"We're friends," she gave him a look. "I know but- okay. How's the beach going?" She listened to Kylie talk about her trip. Jake nudged her arm at one point, bored. Amy nudged him back and eventually they were hitting each other. Amy stopped as Kylie asked a question. She answered quickly then let Kylie continue telling her stories. Jake got too bored.

"How much can one girl talk?" He asked.

Amy moved the phone away from her mouth. "If yoy don't behave, I swear- Oh my god. He said what?"

Jake rolled his eyes and sat back, watching Amy almost listen. A stupid idea popped in his head. He took a spoonful of ice cream and flicked it at her.

"Peralta!" She burst out. "I'm sorry Kylie but Jake just flicked some ice cream on me." She frowned at him but it slowly turned into an evil grin. "I'll be back in a second," then she handed the phone to him.

"What? I don't want to talk to her!" He whispered.

"Then quit throwing food at me," and she was gone.

He put the phone slowly up to his ear. "Kylie..."

"Jake," she sounded pissed.

A very stupid idea indeed

"How are things?" He tried.

"Better without you."

"Look, I'm sorry. You're very nice and can I say pretty hot but-"

"But? Seriously? You call that an apology when you have to add a but?"

"Kylie-"

"No, I know why you dated me," she interrupted him.

"Yeah, you kind of told me at prom."

"You're an awful dancer."

"You're an awful date."

"And you're an awful boyfriend," she snapped.

"Ouch, that actually hurt."

"Good."

"I really had a good time dating you," he said.

"Yeah, but I wasn't her."

"I know," he sighed. "Look, Amy's coming back. Don't say anything. You promised."

"I still hate your guts and want to ruin your life but I won't say. Besides, Amy told me you've got a bet going on."

"She would win if you told her..."

Amy sat back down.

"I know but what's the fun in that?"

"I'm leaving now."

"Okay, have fun. Go fall in a hole."

"I wouldn't count on it." He handed the phone back.

 

 

  
"She really hates you, huh?" Amy asked as they were going to Jake's house.

"Kylie? Yeah, she hates what I did," he said.

"And what did you do again?"

"Nothing."

"That nothing sure is something..." she stares at him.

"I'm not telling. Especially since we're having a bet."

She sighed loudly. "Fine. Did you... did you really like her?"

"Yeah," he shrugged a little. "She was nice and pretty anf all that. I just... did something. I don't know. Do you really like Teddy?"

"Oh come on, that's like asking-" she stopped and looked at him. "Did you cheat on her?"

"No!" He stopped as well. "I know I can be a dick but I have morals."

"Like what?"

"Never cheat on a girl."

"And?"

"You want me to go on?"

She nodded.

"Well," he thought for a moment. "Don't lead her on unless she's hot and you like her."

"That's a good one I guess," she said.

"It's not gay if it's a three way."

"Quit joking!" She shoved his shoulder.

"I'm not!" He laughed.

"You're gross."

"I thought we established this."

"We have."

"So, what are your rules or whatever miss perfect?"

"I've never really thought about them."

"Come on, you've gotta have something."

She thought for a moment. "He's gotta make me happy"

"I think that's what everyone would want."

"Okay, um, he's gotta make me laugh during the worst of times. I don't want to be old and have a boring husband when we can't, well...." she trailed off.

"Santiago!" Jake grinned.

"What?"

"What a dirty mind you've got."

"It's not dirty! It's a part of life."

"I guess you're right on that one," he said. "But you thought that when you know he's not gonna want to get it on anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't take it personally," he said. "I meant no offense."

"I'm sure my husband will want to 'get it on' with me. Or even my boyfriend," she said, obviously offended.

"Oh, so you think you'll bone Teddy one day?" He asked.

"Well- I mean.... it could happen," she shrugged.

"Aw, are you blushing?" He nudged her on her side.

"I don't know."

"You gonna let Teddy take your card?"

"My card?"

"V-card," he said like it was obvious.

Her stomach twisted in a weird way when he specified. "Who said I was a virgin?"

"So, you're not?" He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't say that either..."

"So you are," he smirked a little.

"Why do you care?" She asked.

"I don't really," he shrugged. "Just curious."

"Well, I'm not telling."

"Afraid I'll make fun?"

"You would with any answer I give."

"Okay, look, I promise I won't but listen, I still am," he said. "If that makes you feel any better."

"What?" She looked at him incredulously. "You're joking! All you talk about is taking girls out and how much of an awesome time you have! Every time you took a girl out it was always 'I just had the best night of my life!'" she imitated him badly. "Though, you can only really have one best night of your life."

"Di you really think we sexed though?"

_Did he seriously just say sexed._ "Well... yeah. I mean, you say you get them alone and 'you know the rest of the story.'" she imitated him again.

"I don't sound like that."

"That's not the point."

"What is?"

"That you've been lying?"

"I haven't lied. I just didn't tell the whole story," he said. "You thought I had sex with every single one of those girls," he said like it was new. "Even Kylie? Oh my god, Santiago. were you jealous?"

"What? No."

"You were!"

"I wasn't! You would be the last guy I'd get jealous over because he went out with so many girls."

"You were so jealous," he grinned.

"Drop it."

"Never," he turned around and saw a group of people and yelled, "Santiago was jealous because she thought I was having tons of sex with girls!"

"Peralta!" she punched him, not holding back. "Shut your mouth, would you? Those people could know us. And I wasn't jealous!"

"I'm sorry but this is some great news."

"I cant believe you," she groaned.

"But you-"

"If you say it one more time, I'm not going on the trip with you," she warned.

He shut his mouth and never really mentioned it again.

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

It was the morning of their big trip and Amy's mom kept going over the rules she'd made for trips like these. Though, they were slightly different for her brothers.

"Yes, mamma," she sighed. "You've explained this many times over the past week.

"I know, I'm just worried about my baby," she cupped her daughters cheeks.

"If you're worried, why did you say yes?"

"This trip will be good for you," she smiled. "But a mother always worries."

"Are you worried because of Jake?"

"No, I spoke to his mother. He is a very nice boy."

"Yes, I know," Amy smiled a little.

"Okay, you should go," she finally let her daughter go.

"Yeah, Jake's been waiting for awhile," Amy said looking over at him, leaning against the door frame. "I'll see you later, Mamma,"she pecked her on the cheek and walked out of the door.

"Never been out before without them?" He asked, helping her with the last of the equipment.

"I have," she said. "Just never really alone with a guy."

"There's a first time for everything then," he got in the drivers seat.

"Yeah," she fixed the stuff in the back seat for easier access. She got in her seat beside him and grinned as she buckled up. She was practically bouncing.

"Excited?" He asked with a chuckle.

"I get to get out of my house for two days, of course I'm excited!"

He laughed and turned on the car. "Well, here we go then." He drove away from her house, seeing her mom wave when he looked back.

"Okay, my phone is all charged in case of an emergency," she checked off.

"Which means no texting," Jake joked. "And also means you're all mine."

"I'm practically all yours everyday," she commented. "I brought snacks. Sugary for you, healthier for me. Brought a couple sodas but water also. Mom put money on my card if we decide to eat out any. Uhm..." she paused thinking. "I feel like I'm forgetting something..."

"I think we've got it all," he assured her. "I mean, you were basically up all night reading me the list over the phone."

"I just want this to run smoothly."

"But torturing me isn't-"

"Oh!" She said suddenly. "I remember what I forgot!"

"I'm not turning around," he said.

"No, you don't have to," she waved her hand. "I actually forgot to text Teddy."

"Uh oh," he looked at her. "Keeping secrets for your boyfriend? It's starting to sound like I was better in a relationship than you."

"I was busy planning and you were bugging me," she said while tapping away on her phone. "I just forgot, he'll understand."

"Or he'll totally flip and think you're cheating."

"With you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Don't think so." Before Jake could reply, her phone rang. "Teddy? Why did you call me?"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asked.

"Couldn't we just discuss this over text?" She asked. "I was getting to the point."

"Not quick enough. You wouldn't answer my questions."

"Because I had to keep adding on what I was trying to say."

Jake turned her radio on, not realizing the volume was up loud, making the music blare through the speakers.

"Jake, please, don't turn the music on as I just get on the phone," she sighed, reaching over to turn it down considerably.

"I didn't realize how loud it was," he whispered.

"You're with Jake?" Teddy asked.

"I've been hanging out with him since school ended," she said.

"You've never told me."

"I have told you. Not over text but I've told you." She started to get a scowl on her face.

"When have you told me?"

"Everyday. I text you what I'm doing but if you call, I go into detail. Which means who I'm with. So, get your head out-"

Jake stopped her by grabbing her arm. She looked at him and he shook his head. "Not a good idea, Santiago" he said quietly.

"Did you cut off?" Teddy asked.

"I must have," she said not taking her eyes off Jake.

"What did you say?"

"Why does it matter who I'm with?" She asked. "It never bugged you when I was with Kylie, Gina or Rosa. It's because he's a guy right?"

"Babe, I'm not jealous," he said. "I just know how Jake is."

'Babe,' Jake mouthed with a weird smirk.

"How is he then?"

"He flirts a lot and he's always talking about the luck he's had with girls."

"You're jealous, Teddy."

"I'm not."

"Then say you don't mind me going on a two day trip alone with Jake," she said, now looking away from him.

"I... Amy, I don't know what's gonna happen-"

She couldn't hear the rest because she had hung up. It was quiet except for the music playing on the radio. She frowned then turned it up so Jake couldn't talk to her. Though, he immediately turned it down. She turned it back up with a glare, keeping her hand over the dial. He grabbed her hand gently, taking it off easily.

"Do you want me to take you home?" He asked.

"No," she shook her head. "We've been planning this for days. I'm not canceling while we're on our way."

"So, was he jealous?"

"I don't know, I didn't let him finish," she leaned her head against the window. "Can we turn the music on?"

"Sure, what do you want?"

"Whatever," she shrugged.

He turned the volume up, not bothering to look for any other station.

 

 

 

It was around lunch time when Amy started to lighten up. Jake had threatened to bring out the tickle monster and when he did, she punched him so hard he swerved. They agreed to never let it happen again. She still wasn't up for talking but she let him talk all he wanted. She listened closely, staring out the window. He wasn't even sure she was listening so he'd said she was an evil fartmonster, to which she denied quickly, which erased all his worries.

"We should stop there for lunch!" She pointed to some joint.

"Why not something that looks cheaper?" He said. "Like... Taco Bell."

"Ew, gross, no," she scrunched up her nose. "That should be renamed Tacos of Regret."

"It's... decent."

"Admit it, it makes you sick too."

"Okay, yeah, but it's cheap."

"Well, guess who's got a card with enough money for a couple days?" She pulled it out of her wallet and practically waved it in his face.

"How much money did she put on there?" He asked, following it for a second.

"She thought we'd go somewhere super nice or something. It would be nice just too much."

"You're right. Fine, we'll go to that place."

"Sweet," she smiled. "Thank you Peralta."

"No problem."

The small joint had looked scarier and older up close but they went in. Jake would deny it, but he put his hand on her back to keep her close and away from any harm. It turned out to be really nice inside. He ordered for her and they sat down waiting for their food.

"I thought we were going to die," Jake said when he found her at a table.

"Me too," Amy agreed. "It looked nicer from far away..."

"Well, it turned out to be a nice little barbeque place," he said.

"I'm glad," she smiled, still not feeling fully happy.

"Oh, here's your cup," he handed it to her, forgetting he had it. "I would have gotten you something but I didn't know what you wanted..."

"Thanks," she got up. When she walked back, their food was at their table. Jake was waiting almost patiently. "Go ahead and eat," she said.

"Thank you," he said before basically shoving his pork sandwich in his mouth. He moaned at the goodness of it.

"Jeez, it's just a sandwich, not a girl," Amy said, holding back a laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry, does it bother you?" He swallowed and started to pretend to make out with his sandwich. "Mmm so good. So _so so_ gooooood."

"Cut it out, people are staring." She looked around them, sitting stiffly with her hands in her lap.

"You like it when I moan, don't you," he wiggled his eyebrows and moaned some more.

She tensed up a little, trying not to show she was at least a little aroused. But this was Jake and that made it weirder. "Cut it out," she threw a fry at him.

"Okay, fine, only because you still seem upset," he paused taking a bite of the fry, even though it fell on the table. "And I'm afraid what you're like when you're pissed. Though, I do remember Terry talking to someone about how you exploded on Hitchcock for stepping on your almond."

"It was the diet," she explained. "It made me hungry and a hungry Amy is a mad Amy."

"I bet."

They ate in silence after that, enjoying their food too much to talk.

 

 

 

"How much farther?" Amy whined.

"We're almost there," he assured her. "Just keep reading your weird women's porn."

"It's not porn!" She argued. "It's just a romance novel!"

"Okay, go back to reading your 'romance novel' then."

"Okay fine," she snapped and went back to reading.

They had been in the car together too long. It had gotten to the point where they would argue over what station to listen to. Jake suggested music CD's that he had but she didn't want that either. They agreed, more like Amy suggested forcefully, that they go without music. Talking didn't go well either. It just turned into an argument that when they would pass a car, they got strange looks from them just yelling. Amy learned to shut up and then went on to reading. Jake didn't know how to cheer up someone who was almost as tired of sitting in the car as he was.

"We're here," he said angrily.

"Really?" She sat up, putting her shoes back on, the excitement back in her eyes.

"Yep," he nodded. "I didn't think it was possible, but I got your car to the place I camp."

She was out of the car instantly. A smile grew on her face as she looked around her. "You sleep by the water?" She asked walking over.

"Yeah, it's really relaxing to listen to." He followed her.

"Can we go swimming now?" She turned around.

"Uh," he looked at his watch. "Let's eat dinner, set up, then we can go swimming."

"Do you think setting up camp will give us enough time for our food to settle?" She asked going to the trunk of her car, taking the ice chest out.

"It should. It won't take long though," he helped her get the food out. "Just gotta set up some wires for drying clothes, if you wanted. Get the fire pit ready and set up the tent, if you still want to use it."

"We can set it up," she handed him his sandwich and drink. "We'll see how it goes."

"How what goes?"

She shrugged. "I'm just afraid of my car ending up smelling bad."

"That's why you sleep with the windows down."

"Isn't that, like, bad?"

"Who knows," he shrugged.

"I can always count on you to keep me safe, right?"

"If there's a bear, I'm using you as bait."

"Hey!"

"Don't worry," he assured. "You don't have enough meat on those bones for it to want to eat you."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. "I'm so flattered."

"You should be."

They finished setting up quickly. Amy told him she had stupidly not put her bathing suit on underneath her clothes, believing they wouldn't get there early enough. She ordered him to stay out of the car and to not look. She pulled her shirt off, watching him, his hand over his eyes, a stupid smile on his face.

"Why don't you just go in your underwear?"

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" She couldn't help but snap.

He held up his hands in mock defeat.

"Peralta!" She bellowed, covering herself in her tee.

"Eyes are still closed!" He pointed out. "Unless you're dressed and you just didn't want me to look yet."

"I'm not that fast at changing," she said. "Now, put your hand back. I don't feel comfortable."

He did as he was told and listened to her fumble around in her car, making noises of struggle and defeat. "No joking here, do you need any help?"

"I've got it," she said, struggling to put her bottoms on. "Maybe..."

"Am I able to help?"

"No," she said quickly. "Not at all." She got them up thankfully and stepped out of the car triumphantly. "You can look now."

_Shit, she looks better than at the pool_ , he thought stupidly. "Okay, let's go then." He led her over carefully. She gripped his arm seeing how high it was.

"You weren't kidding..." she said, looking over carefully.

"I don't kid about this stuff," he said. "Me or you first?"

"You can go first," she let go of him.

"Look, it's as easy as just one, two, three," on three he jumped. She watched his arms flail helplessly and then go under. He popped up with a grin. "Come on down! The water's nice and warm!" He floated on his back.

"It's really high!" She called back.

"You'll be fine! There aren't any huge rocks tonhurt you"

"Just give me a second, okay?" She took a small step forward, cautiously.

"Your second is over, get down here!"

"It's freakin' high!"

"That's what makes it so great," he grinned.

She closed her eyes for a second, taking a few deep breaths. She took a few quick steps forward and jumped. Jake waited for her to come back up but after a few seconds, she didn't. He searched for her. The water was clear but not clear enough to see her. He went under, looking for her. When he came back up, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Jesus, you scared me," he sighed.

"You scare me quite a bit and so I figured why not give you a little payback," she smirked.

"That wasn't cool," he tried to scold a little but he had to admit she did good.

"Wanna know what is?"

"What?"

"Jumping again," she said before swimming away back to climb up the rocks.

"Be careful climbing those," he followed.

"Didn't you know?" She turned around. "Careful is my middle name."

He smiled because she was oddly right.

 

 

 

When it started to get dark, they got out. Jake started the fire while Amy dried off and changed. She mentioned she would definitely have to get air freshener after the trip. She sat in front of the fire while Jake changed. She could see him move from the corner of her eye. She knew she could look because he was a guy and he didn't have to hide his upper body. Taking a quick glance, he had his shirt off, probably putting his shorts on from thr looks of it. He looked over at her, making her look away relaxing her quick glance turned into staring. He got out an sat by her.

"S'mores?" He asked, not bothering to mention him catching her staring.

"Yeah, I'll get the stuff," she got up.

"Hey, there's something in my ice chest, could you grab it for me?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" She opened it.

"You'll see it. That's all it's filled with."

"Beer?" She pulled out a bottle.

"No, it's apple juice," he said sarcastically.

"Jake," her tone turned motherly. "You're not twenty one."

"I realize that but I still drink it," he held out his hand indicating for her to toss it. She did. "Have you never been to a high school party?"

"No, actually," she said sitting back down beside him.

"What? I thought you have."

"No," she shook her head. "I don't really like parties. I was never really invited anyway."

"If you had asked, I would have taken you."

"I wasn't that desperate," she joked a little. "Besides, we kind of hated each other then. I never had a big interest in them anyway."

"I'll take you to one next year," he offered. "You'll have the time of your life."

"That's very kind of you." She held out her hand a little, reaching out for the bottle. "May I?"

"Sure," he handed it over. He watched her take a swig, expecting her to spit it out but she went through with it and swallowed.

"Not bad," she shrugged.

They ditched making s'mores and went in her car, laying their seats down and opening her sun roof. They started up a game of truth or dare, both holding onto beer bottles. Jake used his truth or dare app on his phone.

("I'm not doing dare again so truth," Amy said.

"Admit something bad you do," he read. "That's no fun. You're perfect!"

"Not entirely."

"What have you done?" He was curious now.

"I have a few cigarettes here and there," she admitted.

"No way!" His mouth hung open.

"Yeah, it's all Kylie's fault."

"Sure, blame the best friend." )

After a few more beers and more rounds, they were staring up at the sky, quietly.

"Hey, Jakey?" She asked. She wouldn't say so but she was a little drunk.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking me out here. It's awesome."

He chuckled. "No problem."

There was silence again because they were technically trying to sleep.

"Jake?"

"Yes, Amy?"

"Did I ever tell you you're an awesome dude?"

"No, not really."

"Well you are," she snuggled down into her blanket more. "You also look beautiful in moonlight."

"Get some sleep Aimes," he smiled.

"Okie dokie."

 

 

 

Amy woke up to her alarm going off on her phone. She moaned and turned over, looking for it, mumbling about how she wished to remember to turn it off next time. She found it on the floor in the back and hit snooze.

"Jake?" She kept her eyes closed.

"I'm by the fire," he said, obviously not beside her anymore.

She peeked up from the window, squinting at him. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long," he replied. "You look like hell, no offense."

"None taken because that's how I feel."

"Congrats on your first hangover."

She got out of the car. "I didn't get drunk."

"Yeah, and what did you say to me before you passed out?"

She sat down beside him in her camping chair. "Don't mess with me?"

"Close," he said.

"Really?"

"Not at all," he said.

"Okay, I got a little drunk."

"Yeah, nothing like your shame cigarettes."

"Only you and Kylie know."

"Well, you haven't told anyone I cried at the movie so I'll keep my lips sealed for now."

"Thanks," she smiled. "Oh, I don't know if you've eaten but I brought doughnuts as a surprise."

"That's so sweet of you!" He smiled. He got up telling her he'd find them.

"So, what are your plans for today?"

"I assumed you'd want to swim some more," he said. "Probably just sit around, play cards, do whatever comes to mind."

"Sounds fun."

"It will be," he held out the box for her to pick one. "We can hold off on the swimming until you feel better."

"That would be best."

"Also, we'll pack up later tonight and drive back tomorrow. Don't want to worry your mom."

"She's probably already worrying. I told her we might be gone for more than one day though."

"She sent a text to you this morning."

"Oh, I must not have noticed," she mumbled.

"And Teddy sent like 20 million."

"Oh..." was all she could say.

"Why are you mad at him?" He asked.

"Because he was jealous of you," she paused when she looked st him. "I know, ridiculous, right? But that didn't make me angry. He wouldn't admit he was. It just made me frustrated and I just wanted to have a good trip with you."

"Is this your first fight with him?"

"No."

"How did you handle it last time?"

"Space. My mom said if I get to angry, it's better to sit alone or away from who I'm mad at," she explained. "It worked."

"Then, I guess this is good..." he wasn't sure what to say.

"Don't worry about it," she shrugged. "It's kind of stupid anyway."

"Then apologize."

"I won't be the one apologizing first."

"Then wait."

"I will," she got up, walking back to the car.

"I thought you were waiting?"

"I have to answer my mom."

"Right, sorry."

She went back over, moving her chair as close to his as possible and put her head on his shoulder. Jake tensed up for a second but relaxed because this was just Amy. He moved his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, saying it would be okay. She smiled and told him she knew that.

They didn't move for a long while.

 

 

 

It had started to rain right after they had eaten lunch and started playing cards. Amy had to get to her car quickly before the rain got it too wet. Jake tossed their chairs and little table in the tent. ("Told you it would be good for something" "But not for bodies, apparently.") They finished playing cards in the car, but moved on to truth or dare when it got too boring. They snacked on their food, laughing about the stupid things that happened. Jake got her to eat more than one small piece of candy but once she started, she couldn't stop. Eventually she begged him to take the candy away or else he wouldn't have any more.

"What time is it even?" Amy asked, looking up from her book.

"Uh..." Jake closed out the game he was playing. "Six thirty."

"Damn, and it's still raining?"

"It's clearing up," he looked up at the sky. "I'm sure it'll pass soon."

"Hopefully," she said. "So, doughnuts for dinner? We had a lot left over from breakfast."

"You sure you haven't had too much candy?"

"I'm still a little full," she said. "I might eat later."

"Okay," he shrugged and reached into the back for the box. She watched him eat, almost feeling a little sick. "Sorry we didn't get to swim," he said.

"It's okay," she shrugged. "We could always go at night."

"At night?"

"Yeah, it's always kind of been something I wanted to do. Just go swim at night."

"Okay, then, we'll go swimming when it gets dark and stops raining."

"Great," she mentally crossed it off her bucket list.

 

 

 

The rain finally stopped at around eight and they decided to swim at around nine to see if it would continue. When they decided it had really stopped, Jake changed first, Amy having to wait outside. She got suddenly impatient and went into the tent. As she got out, she bumped into him.

"I was wondering where you had run off to," he said.

"You kind of take forever to change."

"Gotta look good for the only lady out here," he winked.

"When do you ever look good?" She started to walk over to the small cliff.

"That one really hurt, Santiago," he said.

"I know," she smiled smugly.

"Okay, payback time," he picked her up slightly, watching horror cover her face. "Do you trust me?" He looked up at her. She shook her head. "Good," and then he tried to throw her off but as he pulled her away from his body, she clung on. "Okay, you kind of have to let go."

"It's either you let me go or you're going down with me."

"Fine," he said, going down with her.

She was still holding onto him when they came back up. "Why do you always scare me?"

"'Cause, it's fun," he grinned.

She pushed him away, splashing him in the process. He splashed back and then eventually, it turned into an all out war. They laughed and continued splashing each other, maneuvering behind or under each other to avoid getting hit. Sometimes, they would push each other under or just hop on each others backs. Amy joked about him being too fat for her to even carry him in the water. He called her a fartmonster again pulling her hair out of it's pony tail. She just shrugged, leaving him a little deflated because he thought she would react to it more than just a shrug. He sling shot it back to her, hitting her in the nose. He laughed at her pout, trying to apologize but he couldn't get any words past his guffaws. They called it a truce and floated around. 

"We should probably head back," Jake said.

"Or," Amy swam up to him. "We could swim just a little bit longer."

"We've got to get up early," he pulled her along slowly.

"Just a few more minutes," she pouted.

"Okay, a few more minutes," he rolled his eyes.

He floated around while she went in circles around him, just talking about some random things that came to mind.

Amy stopped suddenly when she heard a noise.

"What?" Jake asked.

"I thought I heard something. It was probably just my imagination."

It happened again and Jake heard it too. Amy swam closer to him, feeling scared. He listened closely, feeling her presence. It happened again, making Amy jump and cling onto Jake. He squinted then saw a squirrel jump down from the tree. Waiting a moment, he realized the squirrel was the one making the noise. He laughed.

"It was just a squirrel," he told Amy who was still hanging onto him. He looked at her, realizing how close she was.

She looked down, embarrassed. "I thought it would be something else."

"Well, it did sound scarier," he said. "You okay? You looked pretty terrified there."

She made eye contact with him. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just-" she stopped, focusing on him.

"You just what?"

"I dunno, I got scared and impulse kicked in."

"The impulse to cling onto me?"

"It seemed like a smart move at the time," she smiled almost nervously.

They didn't say anything else, just staring at each other. Amy wasn't sure but she thought they were moving closer than they already were. Maybe last night when she randomly spat out he looked beautiful in the moonlight was a true statement. Of course, now, she'd use different words than beautiful. What happened next both surprised and delighted her.

They kissed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooooo cliff hanger!  
> So, this was getting too long and I'm about to go to Florida and I don't know when the next time I'll get a laptop for the next few days so, I wanted to go ahead and post. July for me is booked. Next week I've got a trip to a college for three days and we're technically not supposed to have elctronics but I'm writing on my tablet. The week after that is camp for a whole week. Two weeks after that is band camp. I've got Wednesday's and weekends off but who knows. Sorry for this long note. Thanks for reading!!!


	7. Chapter 7

 

 

Jake pulled away realizing what they had just done. She wasn't his to kiss. She was Teddy's and just because she had an argument with him that made her not want to talk to him, didn't mean they could kiss. They just can't.

"So, uh, heading back..." he said.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Yeah, we should... get out and head back."

 He went ahead of her. He knew he should have said something about how she was taken and he should have respected that or something along those lines but he was shit with emotions or anything on the level of it so it didn't come out. Of course, Amy knew that but she wasn't going to start talking about it first either. They both got out, Jake helping Amy up when she needed it because there was always that one rock she always slipped on. He muttered that he would just change in the tent and left her alone after grabbing his clothes. She watched him for a moment then got in the car herself. She left the door open, giving her easy access to changing. Listening closely, in case Jake finished before she had the chance to finish. He still wasn't done when she started hanging her clothes up, so she pulled out her phone sending a quick text to Kylie about what had just happened in confusion. He finally came out, staring at his phone.

He suggested sleeping in the tent but Amy fought back to let him sleep in the car. She didn't think it was too weird they kissed. Maybe he just feels bad. He finally agreed and sat down, looking like he wanted to say something. She waited patiently because she was ready to talk about it if he was. Opening his mouth, he decided he suddenly couldn't do it so he just laid down, hoping Amy wouldn't hate him.

Something deflated inside her but she saw it coming. If she thought Jake was going to talk about it, she was sorely mistaken. She could relate to him but it angered her a little at the same time. She just wanted to know what he had to say.

 

 

 

The car ride back was silent. Jake tried conversation but Amy was feeling glum. It wasn't over the kiss, honestly, she just wasn't exactly ready to be back home just yet. Jake thought she wasn't talking to him because of the night before.

"Okay, I can't believe I'm offering this," he said turning the music down. "Well, it's not really an offer. We're going to have one hour of full on honesty. We can ask any questions we want. I promise to be honest, do you?"

"Yeah, I'll be honest," she nodded, interested.

"I need a promise."

"Okay, I promise to be fully honest for the next hour."

"Okay, great. I'm asking first though because I said we should do this and because I have a question that kind of needs to be answered," he said.

"The clock's ticking, Peralta."

"What's got you so glum today?" He got to it.

"I'm not ready to go home," she sighed. "I thought it won't be bad but it might."

 

 

"Why are you not ready?" He asked. "You're mom seems _amazing_ to live with. Your brother kind of scares me but he's cool. What's the problem?"

"Well, you forgot a person," she said. "My dad. Though, he's really only part of the problem." There was silence and Jake moved is hand indicating for her to go on. "My parents are fighting, like, non stop. When they think we're asleep or just can't hear them, they start yelling and it takes forever to end. Marcos sneaks out to get away from it. He thinks I don't know, but I do. It just sucks and I think they're going to divorce."

"Why do you think that?"

"My parents have always had to deal with eight kids. Only seven rowdy ones. They haven't had good time alone since... maybe their third kid. Ever since my twin brothers, the worst kids, graduated last year, the fighting started. They're so different than when they got married. It's like they hate each other."

"I know it's hard," he said, looking sincere.

"Well, you at leas barely knew your dad," she mumbled.

Jake didn't say anything and she immediately felt awful. "That was mean, I'm sorry," she said.

"It's fine, you're not wrong. But if you want, you can always come over to my house to get away from it."

She smiled. "That would be great, thanks."

 

"It's your turn."

"Right..." she paused, thinking of something because there were so many questions she could ask first. "So, last night... what was that all about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you kissed me so I wasn't sure..."

"Wait, I thought you kissed me," he said.

"Okay, so, we kissed at the same time. If you kissed me first though, what would that mean?"

"I think it's a little obvious, Santiago."

"No, really. If you took me out there sometime, knowing I was single, and kissed me first, what would it really mean?"

"Well, obviously, it would mean I like you," he shrugged a shoulder. "I'd take you somewhere better to kiss you though. That place doesn't really scream 'romantic' or a good place to confess my love or whatever."

"So, where would you take me?"

"Your favorite place or somewhere where we had a really good memory and I mean really good. Not anything like 'we shared an ice cream and we laughed and just- oh, it was grand!' Nothing like that."

 

"And where would that place be?"

"Well, I know your favorite place is the library. Even when it's run down and has no more books, I'd make it look like that and, yeah," he trailed off awkwardly, realizing he was rambling. "I guess the nice moment would have to be, so far since we haven't finished summer, just those days where we've got nothing to do and we just sit and watch movies and talk. It's nothing big and it's nice. Doesn't cost any money or waste any gas."

"That's sweet, Jake," she smiled. "I'd love either place, if that ever happened, which, well, I don't think it would."

"You don't think we'd ever..."

"I dunno, we're great friends and stuff. I've just never thought about it," she said. "Do you think it would?"

"It could happen. I've never really thought about it either." _You're a huge liar. The whole reason of this was to tell the truth_ , something inside of him said.

 

"Yeah..." she trailed off, not even sure what she'd think about that happening. But it basically happened last night, but he really didn't like her, right?

"Okay, on a lighter note," he said. "I've got a serious question and you have to answer honestly because I'm kind of an asshole and I'm taking advantage of this. You really do smoke, you seem like you would, but who really got you to."

"Okay, it wasn't Kylie," she admitted. "There was this guy I liked during, like, ninth grade. It was srping break or something and I found myself hanging out with him and his friends. He holds out one and I wanted to say no but he was really cute and I wanted approval and it was just stupid. I did it from then on and when he moved, I just never found myself stopping. I don't do it often."

"That is... one crazy story."

"I'm not lying!"

"I believe you but, really, for a 'cute' guy?"

"If you had only seen him."

"Who was he?"

"You don't know him."

"Okay, fine, I won't make you spill."

"So, who got you on drinking?" She asked, because maybe he was lying about the parties.

"I told you, parties. I wasn't lying."

 

"How many have you been to?"

"Almost all of the one's I've heard about. You just show up and you're in. They get pretty wild."

"Sounds...fun."

"No lying," he reminded her.

"Okay, it kind of seems like they suck but I've always wanted to go. I just never have because of homework and friends. Kylie never went so I didnt either," she said.

"Screw homework," he waved his hand. "And besides, you got me now, I'll show you a good time."

"If it's as disappointing as I think, I will never let it go."

"I promise, it won't be."

They moved onto other things, having to be honest whether they liked something or not. Amy learned Jake didn't listen to Jay-z, instead, he listened to Taylor Swift. She didn't stop laughing for a good couple minutes. The hour slipped by quickly and she almost forgot about an important question.

 

"Why did you really break up with Kylie?" She asked turning serious again.

Jake's smile faltered a little. "To be fully honest..." he took a deep breath before answering. "I liked someone else and I kind of used her to get closer to that person." He said it quickly in case Amy would hit him, but if she couldn't understand him, she wouldn't.

"You used her?"

"Yeah, it's a dick move I know."

"That's even worse than cheating!"

"You're mad, I know-"

"Of course I'm mad!"

"I'm sorry!" He sighed. "I just- I wasn't thinking right and she's friends with her so I figured it would work. Of course I didn't think about when it came to breaking up with her and then going out with the friend... I was just making it up as I went."

"At least tell me who it was," she said, her tone still icy.

"I don't think it matters...." he glanced at the clock.

"Jake, tell me who it was."

"No one really important," he shrugged.

"Why can't you tell me?"

 

"Because the hour is up," he pointed out. "I lie and get through emotional situations so now I just won't answer."

"Would it kill you to say who?" She groaned in annoyance.

"Yes, of embarrassment, mostly," he said. "I'd die before I told you who."

"Just a hint?"

"Well, it wad her friend. And the person was a girl."

"I already knew that!"

The worst part was, Kylie had a lot of other friends. Amy was just like a sister to her.

 

 

 

He had gotten her home in time for her mom to not call the police. He helped her get her things inside, even though Marcos insisted he could help. All three of them unpacked her car quickly. Jake tossed all of his stuff back into his car. Amy closed the trunk when he got his last bag in.

"I had fun," Amy said with a smile.

"Yeah, me too," he smiled back.

"Want to... want to come eat dinner with us?" She asked.

"Oh, uh, I smell pretty bad and I just don't want to waltz in there uninvited."

"It'll be fine," she promised. "Marcos already thought you were okay, my mom thinks you are just a sweetheart, which on the occasion you can be. You're not going to die."

"I dunno, Santiago," he puffed out his cheeks. "Your dad hasn't met me."

"If that's what's really stopping you, you really are never going to get through life," she scoffed. "He's like a teddy bear."

 

"Santiago-"

"I know your mom is working late again and you just eat junk for dinner," she put her hands on her hips. Now he knew she wasn't going to back down. "Come eata real meal with me."

"Okay, fine," he sighed.

"Let me go tell my mom," she ran back into her house. Her mom was overjoyed that he was staying for dinner. Her dad overheard and got curious. The conversation consisted of a lot of eye rolling and trying to convince him she wasn't dating Jake. Of course he was just messing with her.

"You can run home and shower, or just shower here, whichever you prefer," Amy said, finding him at her front door.

"I'll go back to my house real quick. I can just throw my stuff in my room or something."

"Want some help?"

"Nah, I got it," he said. "Besides, you should shower too."

"Trying to say something?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you smell bad."

 

"Thanks for sugar coating it," she punched his shoulder.

 

"Since when do I ever sugar coat?"

"Just go on."

Jake smiled before walking off.

Amy ran up to her room, hopping in the shower, enjoying the warm water running on her back. She felt nervous because what if her dad really didn't like Jake. They weren't dating. It didn't matter if he hated him. Yet, it still mattered to her for some reason.

She turned the water off with a sigh. Wrapping herself in a towel and her hair too, she walked into her room, the steam flowwing in. She searched her closet for something to wear, deciding she didn't have to dress nice.

"I didn't take you for someone to sing in the shower."

She screamed and turned around quickly. "Peralta!" She held her towel closer to her body. "What are you doing in here?"

"I figured I should wait on you. And I didn't want to sit in the living room awkwardly."

"Oh my god, I can't believe you. You scared the crap out of me!"

"I know, and it was hilarious."

"Did you think-" she stopped. "Are you wearing a tie?"

"Uh, yeah," he looked down, straightening it.

"And a button up?" The outfit he always wore on picture day, she noted. It was a navy blue button up that sort of looked like it could possibly be getting on the smaller side, but it still looked good on him (And just about the only shirt without holes somewhere on it.)

"I'm eating dinner with my friends parents, I'm going to dress at least a little nicely," he shrugged.

"Okay... well, get out. If they find you up here when I'm like this-"

"I don't wanna know," he made his way back to the window. "Don't take forever."

"Don't tell me what to do."

She watched him climb out for a moment then went back to her closet, picking out a peach colored shirt and black jeans with her black shoes. Going back to the bathroom, she blow dried her hair and decided to curl it last minute. She went downstairs to find Jake in the love chair alone but her father and brother were staring him down. She turned to the kitchen.

"Is dinner almost ready?" She asked her mother.

"Just a couple more minutes."

"Pappa and Marcos are staring Jake down like he's dinner," she said peeking from he kitchen.

Her mother gave a small chuckle. "Well, you know how your father is."

"Yeah, but he didn't do that to Teddy and we're still dating so he has nothing to worry about."

"Maybe he's worried he'll take you from Teddy," she suggested.

"That won't happen in a million years."

"He's nice."

"Not boyfriend worthy I think," she shrugged. "Besides, he dated Kylie at some point so that would be weird."

"What ever you say..." she said almost knowingly. "Okay, dinner is served, " she rubbed her hands off on her apron. "Go fetch the boys."

"Mamma, please don't fight at the table," she begged walking backwards.

"I would never start such a thing."

Amy made it to the living room, all of them looking at her. She stared at her family with her hands on her hips. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing," she said.

"We were just sitting here," Marcos said.

"You're messing with poor Jake."

"I stayed silent out of respect," he piped up.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Mama said dinner is ready."

They all stood, though, Jake let her dad and brother go first. She stopped him before he went into the kitchen.

"Don't mention anything about them arguing," she whispered while straightening his tie.

"I know."

"Or," she stopped him again. "The kiss or anything romantic that could have happened between us. Especially you sneaking in my room in the morning."

"We can barely talk about the kiss," he said. "I'm sure I can keep my mouth shut about it around your dad."

"Hurry up love birds!" Marcos said from the kitchen. "I'm ready to eat."

They walked in, Jake looking uneasy again and Amy with a scowl. Her dad sat at the head of the table, and her mom to his left, Marcos to his right. Amy moved Jake to sit next to her mom and she took a seat beside her brother. Her mom said to dig in.

"How was your trip Amy?" Her mother asked.

 "Oh, it was great," Amy grinned. She explained all the things they'd done, taking out the drinking and kissing of course. Jake would jump in with a joke here and there or saying she was over exaggerating the height of the cliff. He mother asked what her favorite part was. "Last night when we got to swim at night. It was fun."

"You know what people do when they swim at night, don't you pappa?" Marcos asked with a sly grin.

"Well, I suppose I don't," he said getting interested.

"They skinny dip."

"We didn't go skinny dipping!" Amy argued.

"Prove it."

"How can I prove that to you?" She asked.

"If I can just jump in here...." Jake said. "I'd never want to see this girl naked in any way. I respect her privacy and I think the only time I would see her would be an accident."

Amy slapped a hand on her forehead.

"I'm glad you respect her," her father said. Her mouth nearly hung open in surprise.

"I'll say you're welcome and thank you."

"What was your favorite part Jake?" Her mom asked.

"Seeing her wake up," he immediately joked. "It was kinda funny." Amy glared. "I'm kidding Santiago. My favorite part was just sitting around and playing truth or dare. That game gets crazy."

"Crazy how?" Marcos asked.

"Well, I've got that app, and it makes you do the stupidest stuff," he explained. "Like, um, having to say a phrase after every sentence for like an hour or doing some stupid dance. It's amazing to see her do interesting things because she's always so... can I say boring without being insulting?"

"It's not really insulting," Amy shrugged.

"To be fair, you're kind of boring."

"I've gotten out of my shell a little."

"You have," he admitted with a soft smile.

There was silence for a moment, just the two of them staring at each other. Marcos cleared his throat and they looked away, almost embarrassed. He told a story of what him and his friends did when his dad asked. Amy stole glances at Jake when she knew no one was watching. He ate slow, making a point to look like he was listening, even though he probably wasn't. He looked down at his lap, which from Amy's view it looked like he was picking lint off or something. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She checked it carefully.

_ur mom is mean cook! Best meal ever. dont tell my mom tho_

 

_Why don't you tell her that? Btw, no texting at the table. Mom thinks it's a little rude._

 

The next thing they knew, Brown Eyed Girl erupted from his phone.

Jake's eyes went wide and he blushed. He actually _blushed_. It wasn't just a light pink on his cheeks, it was red all over his face, running down his neck. _How far does he blush.._. she couldn't help but thinking. It wasn't the time to think that though. Now, everyone was staring at him and she'd never seen him freeze up like that before. It was a little disheartening, actually. He recovered quickly though.

"Uh, sorry, I left my ring tone on... in case my mom called from work," he explained quickly.

"It's okay, dear!" Her mother waved it off, surprising Amy and Marcos. She really had expected him to get in trouble like Kylie had those years ago. "We do have a no phone rule but if it's your mother calling, that's fine."

"I'll just turn it on silent," he said, messing with his phone. Amy glanced at her dad expecting him to say something like, 'don't look at your phone when you talk' or 'just turn the damn thing off' but no words came from his mouth.

"Are you expecting a call soon?"

"Not very soon..." he said. "She never nags me or anything."

"I wish I could know the feeling," Amy's dad joked.

"Oh, here we go again," her mother rolled her eyes. Before anyone could stop them, they were spewing out words in Spanish, too fast for Jake's beginners mind. He watched in almost horror and shock as they went back and forth, talking over each other. He looked over at Marcos who just shrugged. Next he looked at Amy, looking almost guilty.

"Uh, what did you put in the soup, Mamma?" Amy asked over them.

They both stopped and looked at her. Her dad looked almost surprised and her mom looked confused at the sudden interest. Marcos knew what she was doing. She usually just asked random questions, confusing them, throwing them off from arguing. They would forget about it eventually.

"The same as always, why?"

"It tastes very different, right Marc?"

"Tastes the same to me," he said. She promptly kicked him on the ankle, subtle enough to where no one noticed. "But now that I think about it, it tastes odd."

"It tastes very good though, Mrs. Santiago," Jake jumped in.

"Thank you, Jake," she gave a weak smile.

He nodded and continued eating. There was silence then, no one willing to talk. Jake's caught on Amy's and gave a slight shrug as if to say 'I tried.' She mouthed a small sorry, earning another shrug. She knew he was okay.

"My wife tells me your mother works double shifts at the hospital?" Her dad asked Jake suddenly.

"Uh, yes sir," he replied. "She works hard."

"What does your dad do?"

Amy froze because she knew he never talked about his dad. Not even with Charles. She knew though. She had first found out when she asked why he always had that old leather jacket. He said it was his dad's and mentioned he had left. She didn't ask anything more.

"I don't know him," Jake said stiffly. "He left when I was real young."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine," he said. "Um, if you'll excuse me, my mom is calling." He stood up from the table, mumbling a hello on his way out.

"Good going dad," Marcos said jokingly.

"I had no idea..."

"Oh, neither did I," her mother pouted. "Poor boy..."

"See what you did dad?" Amy snapped. "You upset him." She got up from the table too and went out into the living room. She found him in the hallway, sitting on the floor, not talking on his phone. "Jake? What are you sitting in the hallway for?"

"I didn't know where any other bathroom was except yours and you would see me if I went that way..."

"Jake, I'm sorry about my dad. He can be a real dumbhead."

Jake cracked a smile. "He isn't bad. Like a teddy bear you said. Though, for me, a grizzly bear, I think."

Amy laughed quietly. "Well, a bear's got to protect it's cub, right?"

"Was he this bad with Teddy?"

She slid down the wall, sitting next to him. "That's the frustrating part. He loved Teddy the moment he walked in. 'A perfect match' he said. It's annoying that he runs off my friend."

"I... should leave," he stood up. "Mom called me an all. Duty calls."

"I know you're mom didn't call you," Amy said. "I know she didn't."

"I should get going anyways." He wouldn't look at her. His eyes stayed on the floor.

"Jake...."

"No, it's fine. I've got some stuff to do at the house. It's not you or your dad's fault. Just mine." He walked past her to the front door.

"Jake," she grabbed his wrist. "I- I'm sorry." She stopped what she was going to say. Honestly, she wasn't sure what she was really going to say. It sounded good to apologize.

"I said it was fine," he shrugged. 

"Honestly, if there was any way I could make it up to you-"

"You don't have to do any of that," he interrupted her. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, definitely."

Jake gave her a smile, pulling his arm back out of her grip. He announced that he was leaving to her parents to gave him kinda goodbye's saying it was great to meet him. Before he could walk out the door, Amy grabbed him again and pulled him into a hug, whispering another thank you and told him to have a good night. He didn't stop smiling for awhile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to a girls camp all this week so I wanted to update quickly. It's probably crap but whatever, I kinda like it. Thanks for reading!!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been about forever since I last updated... This was tricky to write but I think it turned out well. So much fluff and it's killer because they need to be togeher now but I can't do that! The struggle of being a writer I guess. Anyway, enjoy and sorry for any typos!!

 

 

Jake didn't show up the next day, texting her an excuse about how he had to help around the house while his mom worked longer. She didn't expect him to go over on Sunday either. He never came on Sunday's because he didn't know if she was religious and he didn't bother asking. He never showed on Monday either, never giving an excuse so she shrugged it off and read. So, three days felt like three years without him. Of course, she'd never tell him she missed him that much. That night though, she was laying in bed, trying to block out all the screaming she could hear from downstairs. Marcos tried stopping it then got caught up in the argument. One moment he was yelling then the next, she could hear the front door slam loudly. She moved from her bed and watched him drive away. She plopped back down, listening to her parents blame each other that it was their fault for making him leave. When she couldn't take it anymore, she picked up her phone, dialing quickly.

"Hello?" Jake answered groggily.

"Can I ask a favor?" She asked, feeling only a little guilty for possibly waking him up.

There was some movement on the other end. "Are you crying?" He yawned slightly.

"That doesn't matter right now," she breathed out. "Can I ask you a favor?" She repeated.

"Yeah, sure, anything." Another yawn.

"You know what, never mind," she mumbled and started to take the phone away from her ear.

"Wait," he said loud enough for her to hear. She put her phone back up. There was a long silence. "Are you still there?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"What's the favor?"

She took a deep breath before talking again. "Can I come over?"

"It's nearly one a.m," he pointed out.

"Yeah, uh, never mind, it's stupid I just-" she stopped, hearing her parents' voices get louder.

"Come on over," he said, like he knew exactly what was going on, even though he probably couldn't hear the yelling.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I'll tell you about it when I get there."

"You don't have to."

"Okay." She got out of bed quickly. "I'm on my way.

"Cool," his words were slowing down. "My window is unlocked."

"Thank you so much."

"Yeah...no problem."

She hung up and packed a quick overnight bag, not sure what she would need to bring. She only packed the basics in her bag. Before she left, she moved pillows into her bed to make it look like she was still there. She snuck out of her window for the first time. She moved as carefully as she could but she was terrified of falling and getting caught. She made it to the ground safely then ran as fast as she could away from her house. There was some weird adrenaline rush that she felt once she was away from her house. This whole sneaking out business was completely new to her. She never even snuck out when Kylie asked.

She paused in front of his house, thinking where his bedroom window would be from the outside. That's what she would say, but she almost felt like she should just turn around. Once she remembered her parents fighting, she moved forward, finding his window easily and pulling it open. She found Jake asleep with his phone next to his ear, which made her smile. She marveled over whether or nit she should take a picture. No one would ever pass this moment up, especially since he always got pictures of her sleeping. So, she pulled out her phone and took a quick picture. Her phone had flash though.

"Uh-oh," she mumbled.

Jake moved, a frown appearing on his face. "Wha's goin' on?"

"Jake, wake up," she said. "It's rude to fall asleep on your guest."

He cracked open his eyes, still not looking happy. "What was that light?"

"What light?" She tried to act dumb.

"I dunno." He let it go and sat up. "I didn't realize you had come in," he rubbed his eyes.

"I was really quiet about it," she replied. "Didn't want to wake your mom and get busted."

"She sleeps like a rock."

"And so do you," she joked. "From what I learned while camping."

"What do you mean?"

"I had gotten out of the car like five times each night and I slammed the door on accident a lot. It was ridiculous how you just slept through it all."

"Well, it's in my genes."

She cracked a smile.

"So, what's up?" He looked at her seriously.

"I don't- I'm at your house if that's what you mean."

"No, why did you ask to come over and sounded like you were crying?" He elaborated.

"Oh, yeah, the crying," she looked away, already feeling the tears in her eyes again.

"I..." Jake's eyes widened at her tearing up. "I didn't mean to make you cry, Amy. I'm sorry."

"No," she shook her head. "It's not your fault."

"It's your parents right?" He remembered now that he was awake more.

"Yeah," she croaked out.

"It must have been bad for you to call," he said.

"Marcos got into it and then he left. I called not long after he was gone."

"Do they nit know you can hear?"

"The time it started I was still listening to music to sleep and Marcos just says he's a heavy sleeper when I brought it up," she said. "I said I still listen to music. I don't know why I lied but I did." She wiped at her face, her tears falling faster.

"Amy..." he didn't know what to say. He didn't even know if his parents fought before his dad left them.

"It's whatever," she shrugged.

"I don't think so, Ames," he tried to assure her. "Look, um, I know that..." he paused trying to think of the right words. "You're strong, in a way. I'm still stronger than you." Amy breathed out a laugh. "But there's some crap that you can't handle on your own. I might not be a good example but you gotta rely on others. So, yeah..." he cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm here, you know?"

"I know," she grinned.

"Good, because that's as much as I'm saying."

"You didn't have to say much."

"I made you smile and cry harder so I must have done something right."

She hit his shoulder lightly, not in the mood to even playfully hit him. She sniffed and pulled her arm away quickly. Jake moved and reached into a drawer, pulling out a box of tissues. He offered them to her and she hesitated.

"Do I want to know what you do with these?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter," he tried holding back a snort.

"Sorry, it's the first thing that came to mind."

"Take a tissue," he pushed the box closer. "You're face looks like Niagara Falls or something."

"Niagara Falls?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not my best when I'm tired."

"Noted," she gave a quick nod.

"Hey, sit down," he said suddenly realizing she was still standing.

"Oh, thank you," she sat on the edge. Jake moved over, giving her more room to sit.

"Okay, my bed doesn't bite or anything. You can sit more on the bed."

"Right," she slipped off her shoes and sat cross legged, across from him.

He was staring at her and she could barely see his face in the dark room with just the moonlight and street lamp barely shining into his room, but she thought she could see some sort of sympathy in his expression. It was the face that he made when he felt bad and he was trying not to show it. His eyebrows would knit together in a cute way and his lips were straight and slightly pursed and his eyes were just so soft, which gave it all away. She'd seen this look a lot when he was with Kylie and she understood it now. He must have felt guilty for being with her even though he didn't even like her that much. Though, most of the time it was him smiling and cracking jokes to make her laugh.

Jake, though, had a good view of her face since she was turned towards the light. Her eyes were clearly focused on him but he couldn't care less if he got caught staring at her because she was staring right back. Her hair had obviously been in a bun but it wasn't as neat as he was always used to. Now that he thought about it, he'd never really seen her sleep with her hair up. It was always down and covering most of her face when he was there to wake her up most mornings. There weren't that many tears on her face because she had dabbed them away but some fresh ones fell. It made him want to reach out and wipe them away himself but that would be weird for both of them. Maybe just her. He swore that he wouldn't do anything romantic-like to her ever again. He had lied when he said he was helping around the house. He was mostly lying around, thinking about that stupid kiss and he decided she was completely off limits. If Teddy freaked out over them hanging out, just wait until he heard about that...

"Did you know you wring your hands when you think?" Amy said, cutting his thoughts. "Like, in weird ways."

"What?"

She pointed to his hands, which were tangled together. "You wring your hands when you think."

"Oh, it's a weird habit," he pulled them apart.

"I used to chew my hair when I was younger," she told him. "It grossed everyone out in elementary school. I'm sure you would have come up with some dumb nick name or something if you were there."

"I used to pull and twist my hair so I don't have much room to say anything," he said. "I guess since it got cut I started messing with my hands."

"Oh no, what a nightmare," she said sarcastically. At least she was smiling again.

"I've decided that you must have been the worlds worst fourth grader."

"Jokes on you," she smiled smugly. "I skipped fourth grade."

"Yeah, and I failed it. What's new?"

"You failed?" She practically sputtered. "How?"

"Multiplication, duh," she said like it was obvious.

She snorted. "That's like the easiest thing ever."

"You kidding me? Hardest thing I've never done."

"Well, at least you know it now, right?" He didn't answer. "Right?" He shook his head almost ashamed. "You still don't know your multiplication tables? You're almost a senior!"

"I never saw the point. We get to use calculators now so it's no big deal."

"Do you even pass math?"

"I scrape by," he shrugged indifferently.

"This year I'll help you. I'll ask you everyday what we learned, even if we're not in the same class. I can help you pass."

"Yeah, okay," he acted like he didn't care but it -almost- made him smile. That meant she wouldn't leave him alone just because summer was over. She really would talk to him more. She really was his friend.

 

 

 

It was way past two A.M and they were still awake.

Amy had stopped crying long ago and had visibly relaxed being on his bed now. She was so relaxed that they were laying down, staring up at his ceiling. Her whole left side was pressed against his left side. His bed wasn't the biggest but it could fit them both at least. Every time he moved a little or his hand barely touched hers, she felt these tingles go through her body (something she'd only tell her diary. If she still had one). It made her think, does she like him in some way? _It must be from sneaking out. You're freaking out still._ she thought. She was still on edge about something.

"Hey Amy?" His voice was quiet and he sounded nervous. Just as nervous as that one day he had come up to her after school to ask her something but Teddy had come up to remind her about their date. Jake stopped and said it was just for school and it didn't matter then walked away quickly.

"Yeah?"

"There's gonna be a fair in town next week. Do you want to go on the fourth?" He asked. "There's supposed to be a firework show and I heard it's gonna be awesome."

"I'd love to go," she smiled. "But Teddy is coming all week next week and God did he plan for it to be full. We're supposed to be going out for dinner that night."

"Oh, right, I thought you guys were still..." he trailed off. "I'll take Gina or someone else. It's no big deal."

"I want to go, Jake,I really do, I just don't know how Teddy would react to that."

"Yeah, I know. Just forget I said anything." He shrugged, sending more tingles through her body.

"I can always try and reschedule the dinner. Make up some dentist emergency lie or something."

"What kind of dentist does work at night?"

"Uh, mine?"

He chuckled. "Don't ruin your time with your boyfriend. It's...whatever."

"Don't use my line."

"He's yours so do whatever you do with him."

She rolled over on her side, getting uncomfortable on her back. "You sound like the jealous one now." She remembered their conversation a few weeks ago when they saw a movie and he kept saying she was jealous of him having sex with a lot of girls. Maybe he was and he was lying for her sake. No way he was still a virgin.

"I don't get jealous."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," he said shortly.

"Okay," she sounded suspicious.

He rolled over on his side, now facing her. "Okay."

"Hey," she smirked. "Maybe okay can be our always," she joked.

"You wish," he rolled his eyes. "You probably wouldn't be able to handle the me."

"What?" She laughed out.

"You know, 'You can't handle the me!'" He shout whispered.

"It's you can't handle the truth," she laughed harder.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." She continued laughing for a few seconds more then settled down. The smile stayed on her face but she looked hesitant about something. He saw something flash across her face. Something he had seen before they kissed and it was unknown to him. He saw it though and he could see her getting closer, which wasn't right. It was all wrong and he needed to stop but his body wasn't listening to his brain. Just as his nose brushed against hers ever so lightly and he could feel her warm breath on his lips, he stopped. Everything seemed to just stop but it was only him that did.

"You've got something on your face," he said quickly, squinting for effect. He brushed her cheek gently and then proceeded to lay on his back again.  
Amy blinked a few times, trying to grasp what just happened. It was so obvious they were going to kiss again and she didn't stop it at all. _Why didn't you, stupid?_ she scolded herself. _Y_ _ou've got a perfect boyfriend and you're over here letting a... a child go and almost kiss you again?_ But she wanted it. There was no protest but she'd only say she was tired and caught off guard not understanding what was going on. That was her lie but she didn't even believe it herself.

Jake started rambling about something that was on his ceiling because she had asked awhile back and he gave some lie about an accident. In all honesty it was just him and Charles being stupid with food. She wasn't really listening though because she couldn't focus. And all she could think was _His lips are just so... ample_  


 

 

It didn't take long for either of them to sleep. Amy fell asleep first because as much as annoying his voice can be sometimes, it helped her sleep. He didn't even know she was asleep until she latched onto his middle and used his chest as a pillow. He smiled to himself and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He expertly pulled the blanket up to them with his feet, really wishing someone had seen it because it was really awesome to him, and had made sure she had most of the blanket. He fell asleep almost instantly.

During the early hours of the morning, Amy had woken up to find them cuddling, spooning if you will. His arms were wrapped around her waist, which made her feel protected. She could feel and hear his breath beside her ear and every few seconds he'd let out a small noise but it was nothing big or annoying. It was cute in a way. She closed her eyes again, not really caring at the moment because freaking out was weirdly easier to do when she was more awake and alert. Plus, that would take a lot of energy and it she probably hasn't gotten her normal hours of sleep yet. She really hasn't since knowing Jake and getting his number. He kept her warm which made her tired again and before she knew it she was out again. 

Between that moment and the time she actually got up, she'd woken up a few more times but she was never awake long. They were never in the same position as the last time she had woken up and the funniest she could remember was when she woke up and he was the small spoon. The last time she woke up she was alone and she was disappointed for a moment. She figured he'd gotten up to go to the bathroom or something but as she waited, she assumed he was awake and left her to sleep. Then the smell of bacon and something like dough hit her, making her crawl out of his bed and wander to the kitchen. She found Jake hovering over a pan filled with sizzling bacon and one with pancake batter. He looked a little silly in just his boxers and a tshirt with an apron over them that obviously belonged to his mom.

He turned around and saw her. "Morning," he greeted.

"Please tell me it's not anywhere close to twelve," she sat down at the small table.

"Actually it's just ten," he replied, turning back around. "I figured some brunch would be nice."

"I thought you said you couldn't cook."

"Well," he dragged the word out. "I can make some decent pancakes. Bacon's kind of easy to cook though."

"And your famous breakfast burritos that you were bragging about, which isn't something that should be bragged about."

"I still eat them," he said. "I just never cook so I don't really know how to cook anything and I never really try so..."

She stifled a yawn. Why was she still tired? "Well, I hope it's good and I don't get sick or something."

"No, that's you cooking," he pointed at her with the spatula. "I said I can make _decent_ pancakes. Knowing your record with food, you'd end up poisoning us both."

"Thanks for the confidence boost."

"You're welcome," he grinned like he'd actually done something good. "Coffee?"

"Yes please," she perked up.

He grabbed a cup for her and set it next to their small coffee machine. He looked at her for a second. "Well, you coming to get it or not?"

"And for a second I thought you were being nice," she stood up.

"Only on the occasion Santiago."

"And what occasion is that?"

"A special one."

She got her coffee but she didn't sit down.

"Hey, wanna see something funny?" Jake asked.

"Sure?" She looked skeptical.

He pulled the spatula back and hit her on the butt, leaving a mark of some batter, emitting a squeal from her as he did so. He laughed and claimed she had a batter butt. She dipped her fingers in the extra batter and smothered some on his face. He tried telling her it wasn't even that bad but she wasn't listening.

"Now we're even," she said. She tried looking at her shorts to see how bad it was but she couldn't get a good view. "Are you sure it's not bad?"

"It's _fine,"_   he sighed. "Who else is going to see it?"

"I guess you're right," she grumbled before sitting back down.

A few minutes later, filled with silence, Jake put a plate stacked with pancakes and bacon and set and empty one in front of her. "Breakfast is served, darling."

"Brunch," she corrected.

"Brunch," he agreed. He didn't wait to eat and just dug in.

Amy didn't know what to expect from his cooking but she took the chance and she was glad she did because even though they were just plain pancakes, they were like heaven. "These are amazing!" She said past the food in her mouth.

"Oh, well, thanks," he chuckled. "Usually I'm only good at making coffee."

"This isn't fair," she swallowed. "You never cook and you're so good at it!"

 

 

"It's my little secret," he shrugged. "Don't go around telling people  _especially_ Charles."

 

"Oh, I won't," she promised. "I want you all to myself so you can just cook for me." She blushed as she said it, realizing how bad that sounded. 

 

"Geez, it's just bacon and pancakes."

 

They're still really good though."

 

"Okay, I'll be your little slave that cooks one meal for you everyday for three meals," he winked. "I'm all yours."

 

She felt her face burn but she did like the sound of that...

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

"Is  _this_ outfit okay?" Amy steppes out of her bathroom for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Yeah," Jake sighed. "I don't know why you're asking me. You looked fine for all the other outfits."

She stepped in front of the full body mirror in her room. "I'm going out with Teddy. He said fancy but not too fancy."

"Yeah, great advice."

"I have no idea what we're doing." She smoothed down her blue dress. "Maybe, I should ditch the heels."

"Whatever floats your boat." He was getting tired of looking at all the outfits and her changing her mind.

"One more outfit and you tell me which one's the best," she promised before walking back into the bathroom.

He sighed and waited. He really didn't care helping her pick out an outfit for her date. She did have some nice dresses ranging from casual to pretty fancy, and she looked good in all of them. But she could have called Gina who had come back Saturday and was desperate for interaction other than her family.

"This one?" She stepped out in a red dress and tan heels, making his breath catch in his throat for a second.

"What about the no heels thing?" He pointed out.

"They match," she shrugged. She looked in the mirror again. "Give me your honest opinion."

"You look..." he paused, watching her look at herself. Her eyes flicked back to him, waiting. "You look great."

"I don't know..." she turned around. "Teddy doesn't really like red on me."

"Well, he's crazy," he said.

"Aw, thanks, Jake," she smiled. "But I'm afraid for this date, red is out."

"So that's one dress down."

"He likes blue on me, I think." She went into the bathroom and threw all the clothes, that were blue, she had tried on into her room.

"So, that gives us three dresses," Jake said.

"But which one..." she hummed thoughtfully and tapped her finger on her chin.

"What about the one before the red dress," Jake suggested. "It looked nice."

"Yeah, maybe your right, it's just in the middle of fancy and casual." She picked it up, looking at it.

"And you could wear those black shoes when you tried on that ugly yellow dress."

"You said that dress looked cute on me!"

"You're not wearing it anymore so I can say that. It just didn't look good," he shrugged.

"Did  _any_ of these dresses look good on me?"

"They all did except for the yellow one."

She narrowed her eyes, not sure if she could believe him. "Okay... well, I'm going to go put this dress on and see how it looks again."

"I'm positive you will look stunning and take his breath away."

"You don't know that."

"He's gone out with you this long. I'm sure he still thinks you're beautiful."

She pursed her lips. "You're right. Why have I been freaking out so much?"

"Maybe 'cause you haven't seen him in a month?"

"It's silly," she muttered and walked into the bathroom.

He checked his watch. "You've got ten minutes until he's supposed to be here!"

The door swung open to a panicked Amy. Her sleeves weren't even on her shoulders. " _What?_ "

"You've got ten minutes to get ready," he repeated. "Are you okay?"

"I've wasted so much time!" She threw a hand in he air, frustrated, while the other kept her dress up.

"Well, finished getting dressed before you freak out."

She closed the door and frantically put her dress on. Looking in the mirror she sighed, not sure how to wear her hair. Teddy loved it in any style. "Peralta," she groaned, opening the door again. "Get over here. I need your opinion again."

"I thought you really didn't like it," he said but got up anyway.

"How do you like my hair. I mean, really like it."

"You know how you wore it to prom?"

"Yeah...?"

"Just like that," he said. "All to the side and kinda curly. "

"I don't have time to curl my hair then do my makeup and try to fix it like that!" She sighed.

"Hey, I'll help you, okay?" He grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him. "You need to calm down. It's just Teddy."

"You're right I just- I don't know why I'm freaking out."

"I don't either," he said. "Look, I'll help you with your hair and you can do your make up."

"You? You're going to curl my hair?"

"How hard can it be?"

Turns out, curling someone's hair is really hard. Especially when he's never done it before. He burned himself a couple of times but he told Amy he was fine. He just wanted to help her. She was a complete wreck and he felt bad. Did she always get this nervous when they would go on dates? He really hoped not. He finished her hair with four burn marks on his fingers. He pulled it over to the one side and pinned it up. He smiled at his work.

"Not bad, Peralta," she commented.

"I know, I'm amazing."

She finished putting on her lip gloss and stepped back from the mirror. "I actually look pretty good."

"Come on," he led her out of the bathroom. "You always look good."

"Oh..." she said in a small voice.

"Where are those shoes?" He asked suddenly, hoping she wouldn't say anything about his comment.

"They're on the floor somewhere," she said looking around. "Oh! There they are." Just as she grabbed them, the doorbell rang. They both froze for a second. "Oh, shoot!" She said, standing up. He followed suit and she used him for balance while she put her shoes on.

"Now, Amy," he used his best parent voice. "I want you to be safe. No fooling around with this boy!"

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes but she had a slight smile.

He followed her out the door. She squealed out Teddy's name when she saw him and ran down the stairs. He caught her in a hug and twirled her around. Jake watched them both and couldn't help but smile. Teddy put her down and as he did he saw Jake there at the top of the stairs.

"Hey, man," he tried greeting her boyfriend as he made his way down. "I was just helping this little wreck her ready. You have no idea how nervous she was to see you."

"I was pretty nervous myself," Teddy said. If Jake wasn't paying attention, he would have missed the bitter tone in Teddy's voice. "Well, should we go, Amy?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," she smiled.

They made their way to the door, Teddy making a point of opening the door for her.

"You guys be careful," Jake reminded her once more. "My phone's on if-" he was cut off by Teddy closing the door. "Something happens," he muttered.

He stared at the door for a moment. His heart ached in a way he'd never felt before. Not even when Ginny Gildenhorn broke up with him at his bat mitzvah. This hurt more and he wished it wouldn't.

"Oh, Jake, dear," his mom's voice came from behind him. "I didn't realize you were still here. I thought you had left with them."

"No, I've got some stuff upstairs that I have to grab..." he looked at the door for a second more before turning around.

"You look upset," she frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I'm fine," he gave her a smile. "Thanks for asking though."

"They're precious together, aren't they?" She asked, watching him carefully as she said it.

"Yeah... they're pretty cute together," he said glumly. "I'll just grab my stuff and I'll be out of your hair, Mrs. Santiago."

"You have a good afternoon, Jake, dear."

"You too." He ran up the stairs and went into her room. He grabbed his phone and wallet off her dresser. Before he left, he stopped at the pile of clothes, strewn about the floor. He collected all the hangers that they went on and carefully hung each dress up. He put them in her closet, in the order she liked (by color obviously). He picked up all her shoes and lined them neatly on the floor inside her closet. Moving to the bathroom slowly, because it seemed he only pace he could go right now, he put her curler away and picked up the stray hair pins. He wiped down the counter that was sprinkled with foundation and blush. Everything looked as perfect as it always did, but it didn't feel perfect.

He decided he just needed some rest. Her freaking out wore him out somehow, he'd decided. He left a note on her bed that said, 'Hope your date was dope! Better not have done anything missy :P' because it seemed better than texting her.

He left and pulled out his phone and dialed a number that was so familiar in his mind.

"It's about time you called."

"You should come over to my place," he said. "Like, right now. As soon as possible." He wasn't giving her time to say anything. "Oh, and bring out the beer, Gina. Tonight's gonna be a tough one I think."

 

 

  
Jake met Gina at his doorstep. He couldn't help but think if she had lost the spare house key again or not. He was glad she didn't ask what was wrong when he walked up to her. She just followed him quietly, surprisingly. They sat down in his room and each opened a can.

"Why so down, Lil clown?" She finally asked. "Did ya miss me that much?"

"You wish," he took a big sip, wishing she bought better beer.

"Then what's got you so moody?"

"I'm not moody," he snapped. She stayed quiet, making him sigh. "Just a bad day."

"And what happened?"

"Stuff," he said shortly.

"Come on, spill."

"Fine," he groaned. "Amy's going on a date with Teddy tonight. I helped her get ready and when he saw me, he was kind of rude. He should be thanking me because she wouldn't have been ready if I wasn't there."

"And why was he rude?"

"He's jealous of me or something. He doesn't like us hanging out together. It's- it's stupid."

"Yeah, but you like Amy."

"What? No I don't."

"Do yourself a favor and stop lying to yourself," she said. "It's so obvious."

"She's like a sister."

"A sister you want to get down with," she pointed out.

"Ew, gross," he scrunched up his nose.

 "You like her so why deny it?" She had a point...

Jake stopped thinking for a second. "Because... she's got Teddy. I'm not just going to ruin that. She's obviously happy with him. You should've seen her when she saw him."

"She at least likes you somewhat," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he shrugged and took another sip.

"So, will you at least admit you've got a crush on her?" She asked. "It's getting sad watching you deny it so much when I already know the truth."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I admit that I like Santiago- well, Amy. She still likes me calling her Santiago though but I like saying Amy."

"Now you're just rambling," Gina said. "I got that on record just so you know."

Jake glared at her. "How was your trip?" He changed the subject entirely.

"There were so many hot bods there," she grinned. "My family was lame as everything but I expected as much. You really should have gone with us."

"You won the trip, somehow, and you didn't have enough tickets to add me. I'm sure grandma was glad you invited her though."

"Oh, yeah, totally. Should've seen her dance that last night. Man, she can dance."

"I already knew that."

Gina hummed thoughtfully. "You got any Mexican food? I'm craving that."

"We might." He didn't make any motion of getting up. She stared at him, expecting him to move.

"Well?" She asked.

"You've got perfectly good legs and you know where everything is."

Gina got up with an over dramatic sigh. While in the kitchen, Jake stayed in his room and continued drinking because why the hell not. It wasn't like he had anywhere to be for awhile anyway.

 

  
Jake woke up to something shoving his shoulder and he could hear his name being said but everything seemed so clouded that he wasn't sure. What woke him up was falling off his bed. Opening his eyes, which he regretted, he saw Amy.

"What the hell, Jake?" She asked obviously concerned.

"What?" He asked groggily.

"'What?' Are you serious?" Her scowl became more apparent, and now her hands were on her hips. "What is all... _this?_ " she gestured to all the beer cans/bottles.

"I got a little thirsty..." he mumbled.

"You have  _got_ to be kidding me." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Is this why you texted and called about a thousand times?" It seemed clearer now.

"I didn't call you."

"Yes, you did." She brought out her phone, playing one of the messages back.

" _Heeeeey Santiago! Or Amy. You like Amy don't you?_ " There was a pause. " _Well,_ I _like Amy.  The name- Gina! I'm on the phone! Stop it! Don't take my phone!_ " His voice got more distant and he sounded frantic, then it went dead.

"That wasn't me," he tried lying.

"I know it was you Peralta." She shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"So, I got a little drunk last night," he shrugged indifferently.

"A little?" Her voice was getting louder and oddly motherly. "A little?! This isn't a little Jake!"

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I didn't drink _all_ of these." He stood up. "Just...most of it."

"Oh my god," she sighed. "I can't- I just- why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you drink so much?" Her posture and voice dropped, becoming more sincere.

He stared at the floor for a second, contemplating if he should tell the truth. "I had a lot on my mind and I wanted to forget."

He could practically hear her heart break. "Jake... if you need to talk, talk."

"I don't talk," he said. "Besides you were on a date."

"I didn't mean just me," she told him. "You've known Gina for so long, I figured you'd talk to her."

"I did."

"She let you do this to yourself?"

"She didn't say no and she didn't say yes."

Amy sat on his bed, not looking at him again. He followed her, sitting on her left.

"Will you tell me what it was?" She asked, her voice very quiet.

"No," he looked at his hands, trying not to think of his head splitting migraine.

"Why?"

"I don't talk," he paused. "Don't you have somewhere to be? With Teddy?"

"Yeah, he drove me here. We're not going anywhere for awhile and he offered to drive me."

"Seriously?" His tone became sour.

"He's the one who suggested I check up on you."

"I don't believe it," he muttered, looking away.

"What don't you believe?" She was getting angry again. There was silence as she waited for Jake to answer. "Look at me and tell me what you don't believe." He didn't answer, too afraid to. "Peralta, I swear-"

Jake turned his head, looking her in the eyes. "The guy hates me and he just _offers_ to drive you to check up on me? I don't get it."

"He doesn't  _hate_ you, Jake," she rolled her eyes. "He knows we're friends and he saw me worrying. He was doing something nice."

It was like the worrying part went over his head. "He hates us hanging out. He got so jealous, you two didn't talk for days!"

"But we're okay now! He apologized and promised to not do it again." She stood up, starting to pace.

"What if he's lying?" He stood up too, not liking having the lower ground.

"I think I'd know if he was lying," she narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, right," he nearly spat out. "Because you're at each others side twenty four seven!"

"Now _you_ sound jealous!" She shouted, gesturing wildly at him.

"Maybe I am!" He shouted back. "Him coming was so unexpected and I had to cancel plans with you because of that."

"He's my  _boyfriend_ ," she stepped forward, glaring up at him. "I'm SUPPOSED to hang out with him when he comes back for just a week. I don't know when the next time I'll see him is!"

"I figured he'd give you a little bit more time to yourself and not keep you all the time."

"I'm not some toy you two have to share!" She seemed to grow as she kept yelling. "You both cant just gwt me equally. He's my boyfriend so I'm kind of supposed to be with him a lot. He gives me all the time I need and you know what? He gave-"

Jake cut her off by cupping her face and kissing her quickly and hard. Amy was completely caught off guard by it. She was in the middle of her sentence, leaving her mouth open. It wasn't bad, just not right. As his tongue flicked across her bottom lip, she shoved him away, slapping him as hard as she could.

He held his cheek looking guilty and hurt. "Amy I'm-"

"Save it, Peralta." She shook her head. "I just can't play these games anymore." She turned and walked out.

Jake followed her quickly. "Amy, wait! Just let me explain." He grabbed her hand before she got to the door.

"Then explain. You've got a minute."

"I- the thing is..."

"You're still drunk?"

"I'm- yeah... No, I'm not," he stuttered out. "I'm just hungover."

"Then  _what_ is it?" She asked impatiently.

He hung his head. "I kind of..." he paused again.

"Jake, hear me out," her hand tightened around his. "I think we should take a break for awhile or at least until Teddy's gone. You obviously have some... feeling toward him that aren't goof. It's just a week okay?" She smiled a little. "It's not forever."

"I'm sorry, Amy."

"I know," she let go of his hand. "I should get going."

"Have fun," he croaked out.

She opened the door, pausing at it. "You...too." she hated saying that because he obviously wasn't going to have fun, but it was for the best. When she got back in thr car, Teddy's face matched her concern.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Jake okay?"

"I hope so," she looked back at his house.

Inside, Jake was in his room throwing things things and cursing, hating himself for being so selfish and acting so stupid.  
He just wanted to drink again.

 

  
It was later in the evening, and Jake was laying around in his room, reading one of the books from the pile he had bought with Amy. He heard the front door open, indicating his mom was home. He waited for her to call for him or say something about dinner but he didn't hear anything except her keys and footsteps. Focusing back on his book, he chose not to worry.

"Jake?" His mom's voice came to him. He looked up to see her leaning against his door frame, arms crossed, face pensive. He was glad he cleaned up.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember what you were supposed to do last night?" She asked.

"Uhm..." he thought for a good few seconds but nothing important came to mind. "Cook dinner and clean the house?;

"That was part of it."

"I dunno," he shrugged.

Her arms dropped. "You were supposed to pick me up," she told him. She stayed calm and completely  _not_ angry which meant she was more than pissed. "I had to get a ride from someone who lives across the city. I told you I didn't have enough money to go on the bus by the end of the day."

"Sorry, mom, I forgot. It won't happen again," he looked back at his book.

"You forgot? I left notes around the house and I texted you. How could you have forgotten?" She asked. "That's just irresponsible."

He put his book down. "Look, I'm really sorry, okay? I was just kind of busy last night and I forgot. It really won't happen again, I promise."

"Don't lie to me, Jacob," she frowned.

"I'm not lying."

She stopped, thinking for a moment. Jake could tell she was still angry, but if she really knew what he was doing... "Dinner will be ready soon."

"Okay," he said but she had already started walking away. He sighed and continued reading. He felt like he just wasn't doing anything right lately. Even Gina seemed annoyed with him the night before but he just couldn't figure anything out. There were too many mysterious women in his life and he didn't know what to do.

 

  
Dinner was quiet, neither one wanting to say anything. Jake actually brought his book to the table and kept reading. His mom looked at papers that she always made sure he couldn't see them but he was pretty sure he knew what they were. Bills, bills and more bills making them give more and more money. She finally looked him though, not wanting to stress any more.

"What are you reading?"

"Just a book Amy told me to read." He answered without taking his eyes off the words and showed her the cover.

"How is she anyway?" She asked. She never saw Amy often, but she liked her and thought he was sweet.

"She's...good."

"Has she come over lately?" She took a bite of her food.

Jake looked at his mom with a raised eyebrow.

"What? I'm trying to be a good mother and ask about her son's social life." She had a joking smile.

"I feel like you're interrogating me for something," he said truthfully.

"For what?" She asked. "All you two do is sit around and watch movies."

"We do stuff!" He defended.

"What kind of stuff?" She poked his arm.

"Like walking and... going out."

"Going out hm?" She couldn't contain her smile. "Like a date 'going out'?"

"Mom," he rolled his eyes.

"Son," she copied his annoyed tone.

"If you wanted to know if we were dating, I would have gladly tole you we aren't."

"Do you two..." she wiggled her eyebrows. Jake's furrowed in confusion. "You know... the horizontal rumba?"

"Oh my God mom," he covered his face with his hands.

"What? I have to ask!"

"Did you have to phrase it like that?" He said behind his hands.

"Would you have referred me to say sex?" She laughed.

" _Oh my God!_ " He moved his hands to cover his ears.

"It's not like you don't know about it."

"But those words are coming out of your mouth! It's ugh," he shuddered. "Why do you have to make things so weird?!"

"Just answer the question," she got serious.

"No," he got as serious just as fast as her. "Never with Santiago."

"Another girl?"

"Mom," he warned.

She held her hands up. "Sorry, just wanted to check."

"Can we please stop talking about this?" He asked.

"Okay," she smiled then continued looking at the pile of papers in front of her. He watched her for a second then went back to his own stack of papers with a cover. "You should invite her over for dinner sometime. I'd really like to talk to her more. She just seems so sweet."

"Can we also not talk about Santiago too?" He snapped.

"What's wrong with you?" She looked concerned. "She's usually all you ever talk about."

"Well, not tonight okay?"

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Jake-"

"Nothing happened alright?" He got up from the table.

"Jacob Peralta! You get your butt back to this table and talk to me," she pointed at him then his chair. That was twice she called him Jacob in the past hour.

He threw his head back, glaring at the ceiling for a second before turning around and sitting again.

"Tell me what happened."

He sighed. "Amy's mad at me."

"What happened?"

He took notice she didn't blame him.

"I got mad she was spending about every second with Teddy this week. She got mad then I got mad then she yelled and I yelled then shr yelled louder. Mom, she's scary when she's angry." She smiled a little. "Then I..."

"You can tell me Jake."

"I just made her leave."

"Oh no..."

"I know I'm stupid, what else is new?"

"You're not stupid. You're an extremely smart boy. You're just... not perfect with girls. You've grown up with Gina, yes, but we all know she's different than other girls. She's like a sister to you anyway. You like Amy right?"

"Well, I mean,"he scratched the back of his head. "In a way."

"Tell her you're sorry and show her you care."

"Yeah," he snorted. "I share my feelings?"

"I know, you're like me. You hide things but you're like your father okay? He was confident and stuck to a plan. I know you can do it."

"Thanks mom," he smiled. "I'll think of something."

"You can go now and do whatever," she said. He got up walking away. "Hey, hey, AFTER you do the dishes." He groaned. "Love you sweetheart."

"Love you too," he said truthfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaaay this chapter is so late!! The only excuse I have is school. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and sorry for any typos, anything that is false and sadness because my friend proofread the handwritten one and she told me to just stop. Sorry again!!


	10. Chapter 10

 

Jake was reading in the living room with his mom Friday afternoon. She had the TV on but she seemed disinterested in the show. They both knew she had it on because she didn't want to do absolutely nothing while she waited for dinner to cook. Every once in awhile she trailed in and out from the kitchen and during that time she wasn't by him, he watched the TV, trying to figure out what was going on. She came back in the living room to find him squinting at the TV. He went back to reading instantly and she opened her mouth to say something.

"It's  the store owner," was all he said.

His mom stared at him. The episode was only fifteen minutes in, the evidence barely even given. She paid more attention as much attention as she could as she kept slipping away but Jake filled her in when she returned during commercial breaks. Halfway through she brought out a plate for him and one of her own. Both of them had their eyes glued to the screen, shoveling food in their mouths. Jake didn't tell her it tasted good being too distracted. He 'mmmm'd in satisfaction. Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. They both looked at each other. Jake shook his head and his mom rolled her eyes, getting up.

"Amy!" She said when she opened the door. Jake's head snapped toward her. "What a surprise!"

"Is Jake home?" She asked.

His mom turned around and he shook his head vigorously. He was definitely not dressed for any guests. "Yes, he's here," she said when she turned back. He glared at her back and rushed off the couch. "Come on in."

Jake was halfway to the hallway when Amy saw him. They both froze, not exactly sure what to do. She put a hand up to her mouth to stop the giggle coming on. She kept her eyes on his boxers covered in hearts punctured with arrows. He tried to ignore it.

"I'll be back," he grumbled, stalking off to his room.

"Would you like some dinner?" He heard his mom ask as he closed his door. He tore some jeans from his closet  and put them on angrily. He left his t shirt on. Jake exited his room finding Amy on the couch, eating some of his moms Noodle Kugel looking slightly uncomfortable. He picked his plate back up, taking a seat between her and his mom.

"Oh!" Amy said when the show came back on. "I've seen this episode it's-"

"No spoilers!" Jake and his mom yelped at the same time.

"Oh, sorry," she shrank giving a sheepish smile. She looked at the both of them and smiled at the same antics they shared. The last time she was eating with them, she noticed they ate the same way but this time she noticed they shared the same expression when intrigued by something. She looked away, feeling that Jake saw her staring.

"This is really good, " she whispered to Jake.

"The food or the show?" He whispered back.

"The food. Mostly."

He gave a chuckle and looked down at her. She looked up at him, her chest feeling tight. He bumped his elbow to her arm lightly and gave a wink before looking away. The tight feeling loosened and moved to her stomach.

"Isn't that your jacket, Jake?" His mom asked pointing to Amy who had on his dad's old Letterman jacket he let her wear when it got too cold when they went to the ice cream shop again.

"Oh," he hadn't recognized it for some odd reason. "Hm, yeah, it is. I didn't know you still had it."

"It was comfy," she shrugged with a blush.

"Oh, that's so sweet," his mother beamed. She put a hand in her chest.

Jake cleared his throat, covering his embarrassment. Amy looked down at the floor. "Hey, it was the shop owner," Jake pointed to the TV.

"Oh, how'd you guess it so early? " she pouted.

"I'm that good," he grinned smugly. He wasn't going to admit he'd seen the episode before too. "Uh, mom, can me and Amy go hang out in my room? Unless she's not finished eating..."

"Sure," she smiled. "You know my rule though," she pointed at him and squinted her eyes for a brief second.

"How could I forget?" He rolled his eyes. He turned to Amy, "I'll take your plate and you can head to my room."

"Okay, thanks," she gave up her platter of goodness. "That was very good Ms. Peralta."

"Thank you Amy."

Jake went into the kitchen, cleaning the plates, making sure to wash them unlike last time.

"So..." Jake started when he entered his room. He had his hands in his pockets and his shoulders seemed to be frozen mid shrug.

"I listened to all your voicemails," she admitted.

"Yeah, they were pretty...." he trailed off scratching the back of his head, blushing. She liked seeing blush.

"Sweet," she finished looking hopeful.

"I was going to say lame."

"Listen, Jake, they were sweet," she assured him. He looked at her and she DID look pretty serious but nervous. She fingered the button on the jacket which was a dead give away. "I mean the one on Wednesday. .. it was so sweet."

"So, are you still mad at me?"

"No and I accept your apology."

He breathed out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I thought you were going to hate me for awhile. "

"I never said I hated you."

"Still...."

"You watch too many romance movies," she rolled her eyes.

"Me? No way."

"I know you're truly a softy. Everyone knows it."

He laughed and ducked his head. She walked up to him and peeked at his face with a smile. He saw that look in her eyes again. He kept his head down because she stayed in the position under him but she tilted his head back up.

"You're breaking my mom's rule," he blurted, eyes a little wide and heart beating like crazy.

"Oh," she pulled away and took a couple steps back. "She's usually not here when we're alone..."

"It's - fine."

"Hey, the main reason i came here was because I wanted to go to the fair. You planned it and i feel bad for almost ditching," she said. The sleeves fell over her hands so she played with the extra fabric. He found it so adorable. "Teddy wasn't feeling well so he said I could hang out with you. I told him so we're all clear."

"I forgot all about the fair!" He nearly slapped himself.

"I mean, he don't _have_ yo go."

"No, I can still get the surprise plan to work. You'll love it, I swear. " there was excitement on his face and in his voice. "Let me get changed and we can go."

"I'll  leave?" It sounded more like a question.

"Unless you want me to be the first guy to undress in front of you--"

She was out in a flash

 

 

 

On the car ride to the fair, Jake was texting someone which Amy insisted she text for him but he didn't want her to find out the secret. She closed her eyes trying not to focus on the fact that they could crash at any minute. Jake fake laughed at her and announced they arrived there in one piece and alive. She almost wished she wanted the old Jake back because he was definitely back.

He led her to the busy entrance and paid for both of them which surprised her even though she knew it probably shouldn't.

"Okay, we can basically go on any ride and I'll pay for snacks if you want any," he said.

"Where did you get all the money?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Dad sends in money every once in awhile," he kept his voice low like anyone would be listening. "I used to give it to my mom but lately she's been letting me keep most of it. I mean, it's not a lot but it's enough."

"Oh," she assumed his dad had zero contact with them.

"Yeah, I think he feels almost guilty," he didn't look at her. "Which is dumb-- Hey how about that ride?" He pointed.

She followed his finger and felt sick just by looking at it. She swallowed thickly and tried not to think about the height. "Okay."

"Sweet," he grinned. She followed him the sick feeling rising in her stomach. As much as she loved his mom's cooking, she didn't want to see it again. They had to push through sweaty people which made her even warmer.They had to wait in the long line and she let Jake talk about the books he had read. She was actually proud of him for reading two books in the span of a week but the ride was freaking her out. She took the Letterman jacket off and fanned her face. Jake noticed how sick she looked as they moved up in line.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked, his voice filled with worry and he touched her arm lightly.

"Uh, yeah," she nodded and cleared her throat, obviously lying.

"If you don't want to go on it we don't have to," he said searching her face. He felt bad dragging her in line without realizing she was scared.

"I'm fine just," she breathed out deeply trying to shake off the anxiety, "a little scared is all. I can do it though. You really want to and it seems...fun."

"I can always go alone," he moved up in line but his eyes stayed focused on her.

"I'm fine," she smiled weakly.

"Okay," he said skeptical.

She wasn't fine. As soon as they got on Jake made sure they sat next to each other and Amy just wanted off. With shaking hands, she buckled herself in. She gripped the bars tightly as they checked and double checked to make sure the seat belt was done right.

"Excited?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, you?" She could hear the waver of her voice.

"Hell yeah," he grinned from ear to ear.

She felt like she couldn't breathe like something was on her chest, pushing all the air out. This wasn't excited; this was fear. The cart moved forward slowly and they climbed the bars going up and up, listening to the _tic tic tic tic_ of it moving and the higher they went, the sicker she felt.

"This has loops doesn't it," she squeaked out when they were near the top. She hadn't realized before.

"Obviously."

"Fuck."

 

 

 

 

 After they got off, Amy found herself shaking uncontrollably. Jake took notice of this easily and made her sit down. She even insisted she didn't need to but she found herself sitting on the wired chair, hating it press against her thighs, hot and oddly sticky. He left her alone to go buy her a water. She checked her phone, seeing missing calls from Kylie and Teddy. She ignored Teddy's and texted Kylie she was busy with Jake again. He came back with a cold bottle of water.

They didn't sit down for long, finding a less intimidating roller coaster. Jake stopped suggesting the high ones, though Amy told him he could pick whatever. After awhile she forced him on one she had been eying for awhile. She waited while he went on, looking at her phone, and waving at him in line when he did so. Her phone rang and Pineapples showed up on the screen. She answered it and Jake told her he was excited. She hung up with a smile.

"You're still shaking?" He asked when they were walking around.

"No?" She tried holding her hands still.

"Yes, you are," he took her wrist gently and they watched her hand shake.

"Well, you're shaking too," she pointed to his empty hand. She was right.

He intertwined their fingers slowly and let their arms drop. "Is... that okay?" He watched her reaction closely. "I just figured--"

"It's fine," she tried to hide her smile.

"Cool," he kept walking. "So, now that you're at a fair, do you know what you _have_ to have?"

"Uh, hotdogs?" She took his silence as a no. "Ice cream?" More silence, "Popcorn?"

"Well," he paused thinking about her last answer, "yes, but I was thinking cotton candy."

"That sounds too good."

He found the stand that sold the cotton candy and they were both quickly intrigued as they watched the man selling it make flowers out of the sugary sweetness. They waited patiently, watching, completely perplexed on how he did it. Amy looked up at Jake and she couldn't help but think his face was child like, smiling but confused by what he saw. The urge to just move over and kiss his cheek came to her but she pushed it away quickly.

_Don't be so hypocritical_

He caught her looking at him and raised his eyebrows as if to say 'amazing huh?' She smiled at him and his smile grew which made her feel calm about all of this and the hand holding. She really felt like it was just them, right there in that moment. Of course the noise brought her back. They looked away at the same time telling the vendor?What flavor they wanted. As they watched theirs being made Jake kept whispering "dude, this is so cool. So cool."

"For the cute couple," the man held out the candy.

Amy grabbed hers flustered, feeling her hand suddenly become sweaty or maybe it was Jake's hand that was sweating. He let go of her hand for a moment to pay and she really wished she could open her mouth and say something but she knew it would be incoherent. Jake took her hand back and muttered to the guy that they weren't really a thing but he was busy again. He led her through the crowd around the stand.

"Awkward?" He asked.

"Awkward, " she agreed.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

They didn't let go of each others hands.

 

 

 

 

They went to other stands playing games until it started getting dark and Jake was running low on money. They had found a photo booth with props and Jake insisted they pretend to play the same saxophone. He laughed the whole way through. He had won a lot of things but they were small. He gave half of what he won to Amy saying it was basically a tie so she deserved it. Amy bought a bag to put all the prizes they had won and let her jacket off of it.

"Let's head over there, " he pointed to the Ferris Wheel.

"Can we even get on so close to the fireworks starting soon?" She asked.

"I've got my ways," he looked at her seriously, trying to seem suspicious.

They walked across the fair grounds passing a tremendous amount of people. She knew it had SOMETHING to do with fireworks and the spectacular show everyone had been talking about when it opened.

"Doug Judy, " Jake greeted him, arm stretched out. Amy let go of his hand as the two boys half hugged.

"Whattup my man?"

"The surprise?"

"Oh! Right!" He grinned. "I'll hook you and your lady up as soon as I get everyone off this ride." It didn't take long for everyone to get off. "The ride is closed people!" Doug Judy yelled to the line. There were kids that were upset by this but it didn't bother him. The height bothered Amy because it was decent sized Ferris Wheel with some height to it but she thought this couldn't be as bad as the roller coaster. She could do this small thing.

"Best seat in the house," Jake grinned as they went up.

She only looked at him, trying very hard to not look at the ground which they were nowhere close to. "For the fireworks show?" She got it now.

"Yeah," he was disappointed she got it before the show actually started but by then it was obvious what it was for.

"Hey, isn't Doug Judy the one who stole a lot of cars last year?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, he's good. "

"You think he's going to steal from my bag?"

Jake leaned forward making the cart lurch and Amy gripped the bars tightly and clenching her jaw. "Nah, I think he only steals cars. Not that he keeps them. It's just a game to him."

"Okay, awesome," she closed her eyes as the cart swung back into place.

"Oh, you're scared of heights," he frowned. Suddenly the Ferris Wheel sounded like an awful idea. "This is the worst surprise isn't it?"

"It's not, " she assured him. I'm fine if it's not moving. I think its a perfect idea, actually."

"Just not well thought out," he pursed his lips and rapped his knuckles on the bar in frustration.

"Jake, it's fine. I'm not lying here."

"You sure?" His brows furrowed. "I can always have him let us down."

"If you keep going on...." she tried to threaten him but nothing came to mind. Luckily a voice from the intercom interrupted her.

"Attention fair goers, the firework show will be beginning shortly. Sit tight and enjoy."

Jake perked up immediately and he had that kid look again that Amy found he had been sporting recently. She grinned feeling the excitement roll off of him. Soon enough the first firework went off but they didn't see it in front of them. They looked at each other confused but then it hit them. Turning around at the same time, they saw the fireworks that were supposed to be in front of them.

"Well, that kind of... sucks," Jake said.

Amy laughed hiding her mouth behind a hand. "That's hilariously crappy."

"And very disappointing."

"Well, we're up here so that's what matters," she tried calming her laughter.

He started laughing too not able to hold it back anymore. "This is the opposite of how I saw it going." His eyes lit up for a second then pulled out his phone. "But it's great for a selfie!" Hr held out his phone and took a picture of him smiling and Amy looking surprised.

"Oh, that's awful!" She scrunched up her nose.

"It's not that bad," he looked at it.

"Take a better one," she pushed his arm. She smiled and Jake made a funny face. The next picture was her looking unamused about it and Jake having a shit eating grin.

"A _serious_ one, Jake, " she had a scolding tone to her voice.

"Impossible. "

"Just try, for me?"

He put the phone back up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they both smiled, seeing the fireworks explode behind them. Jake was still grinning when she moved her head and kissed his cheek, hearing the click of the camera.

"Okay, you got two serious pictures out of me so you have to do a silly one," he told her when she pulled away.

"Just one," she said.  
"Okay, silliest face you can make 3...2...1 go." He pulled a Miley Cyrus and she crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out. "That's your silliest face?" He laughed when she nodded. "Pathetic! I know you can do better."

"I'm not doing it!"

"Do it! He pushed.

"Only if you do yours."

"I already did!"

"But I look like a monkey! "

"Perfect."

Shr groaned, "Fine."

"3...2...1...."

_Click._


	11. Chapter 11

"You willingly kissed Jake?" Rosa looked disgusted. Amy looked away from her judgmental eyes at the other people walking around the food court. Most of them held each others hands being couples with varying ages. She smiled a little thinking how cute they were. " _multiple_ times?"

She brought her attention back to Rosa. "Just once actually," she sipped her thick chocolate milkshake. "Jake kissed me first the other times."

"Oh he told me all about that night in the woods," Gina smirked. She lathered her fries in that weird sauce she liked to get. "And the night he peeved you off."

"And now July fourth," she mixed the whipped cream in with the ice cream, watching it turn a lighter brown slowly, some random white stripes of the cream streaming across it in circles.

"I got the pictures," Rosa frowned as if she hated them. Maybe she did but Amy couldn't tell.

"Me too," Gina smirked, "I liked the silly pictures."

"I didn't think Jake would send them to anyone," she mumbled. She assumed he would send them to her like she asked when they were walking home. Gina seemed like a possibility but Rosa? She hated people flaunting their relationships in her face. Not that they were a couple....

"He didn't mean to," Gina nodded to Rosa. "He meant to send them to just me but he was falling asleep when he did."

"I deleted them," Rosa's nose scrunched up at the thought of the pictures again.

"So, what happened after walking you home?" Gina asked, chewing on her fries that were almost gone, the salt falling off her fingers easily.

"He said goodnight, let me keep his jacket, and left," she shrugged simply acting as if it wasn't that big of a deal she got to keep the jacket. It wasn't the whole truth.

_It was oddly chilly for a July night but Amy was only in her 'I love books better than boys' tank top that had a faded heart. She shivered, reaching for the jacket that she thought was on the bag she bought but nothing was there. Something warm and mostly silky slipped around her shoulders. She looked at Jake, her ponytail swinging as she did so, and he had that soft look on his face when they were getting cheesy. A smile found its way onto her face._

_She could see her house down the street. When she could see Marcos car, relief flooded over her. The yellow porch light was on, letting her know her parents were in bed (in separate rooms most likely) but she knew they weren't asleep yet. Jake bumped her shoulder with his making her stumble. Getting balanced on her feet she pushed him with not as much force as she could have to make him fall. A laugh that she found to love hearing escaped his mouth, sounding somewhat like a girly giggle and a breathy laugh.He shoved her back but she knew it was nothing but playful. Falling in line with him, their feet moving at exactly the same pace, right moving with right and left moving with left, he had assumed she chose not to back lash but her hip bumped against his roughly._

_"You've got sharp hips!" He called out, holding his own hip._

_"That's what you get!"_

_"You act like it's so awful that I barely touched you," he rolled his eyes._

_"Competitive," was her answer._

_They made it to her house, laughing still. Their steps slowed down, coming to a stop in front of her house. She started taking out her little prizes she had won, planning on just giving Jake the bag. When he cleared his throat, she looked up at him, sensing his seriousness._

_"Can we, uh, talk?" He looked worried but very serious. It scared her for a second. They had serious conversations earlier in the summer, ranging from her parents to his and other deep things but he added humor to keep their spirits up. She knew there wouldn't be any humor._

_"You're not getting a kiss goodnight, Peralta," she found herself chuckling._

_"No, I-" he looked down, trying not to smile at her attempt for a good laugh. "It's about that. Vaguely. I think we need yo talk about...it all."_

_Her head tilted curiously, "what do you mean?"_

_"We've--"_

  
_"Ames," Marcos was at the open front door staring at them. "You're late."_

_"The firework show delayed and we had to walk home," she handed over the bag to Jake hastily. "I'm sorry, its probably so late," she turned back to Jake with a smile. "I have to go. I had a great time, thank your for that amazing surprise." She moved forward and hugged him. "Call me and we can talk about what you were trying to say?"_

_He nodded stiffly. "Yeah, I'll call when I get home," he turned and nodded at her brother who nodded back at him._

_Needless to say, he didn't call._

  
"No romantic kiss in the moonlight?" Gina joked.

"In front of my brother? No way."

"You didn't say no."

 

 

 

Amy got home later than she planned because of an unexpected trip to a spa by Gina. It _was_ relaxing, though, she wasn't willing to do it in the first place. Rosa almost left when they got there but Gina got her past the front desk first having the trip planned before they even went to the mall. She undressed from her clothes that she uaully wore outside and slid into her comfy pajamas which were just shorts and a tanktop. She snuggled up on her bed and read the book she bought Jake for his birthday. Minutes later her phone starting buzzing and picked it up to see Jake calling. 

“Hey, Ames, can I come over real quick?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” she glanced at her messy room and decided she could clean up in time. “Can I ask what’s up?”

“Just wanted to tell you something that I can’t say on the phone. It won’t take long.”

“You’re not moving like Teddy right.” She laughed it off but she worried. _Why are you still talking about him anyway?_

“I’ll be over in a few.” No information…

“Okay, see you then.”

She put her phone down chewing on her lip. He hadn’t said no but not saying anything meant no, right? Moving out of bed, she picked up her clothes and books off the floor. The floor was clean quickly and she found something else to distract her mind until he was there in a few minutes. She sat in front of her book shelf changing the books from alphabetical order to size. Halfway through, she heard a knock on her window and she found this was her moment. He climbed in and they were quiet for a moment, not looking at each other.

“I know who you wanted to get close to,” she decided to speak if he wasn’t going to.

“I’m in love with you,” he had said at the same time.

They looked at each other obviously shocked. “Wait, what did you say?” Amy started to smile not sure if she had heard him right.

“I… what did you say?”

“You started talking first.”

“Nope. That was you.”

“Did you say you love me?” She got to the point to make him talk.

“Uh… yeah but who were you going to say?”

She took a calming breath before starting. “Me. You wanted to get close to me because you’re in love with me but Teddy was taking me every time you wanted to hang out so you dated Kylie because you knew we hung out all the time. It didn’t exactly work right? Because Teddy took me.”

“Yeah,” he scratched the back of his head embarrassed. “It was a dumb idea but, Amy, I think I’m in love with you or even in like if you think love is too soon or something. It’s crazy and I keep thinking that what if you felt the same way. But that’s way too much to believe because you’re you and I’m me. You organize your books and I have one book. One whole book that’s from my dead beat dad.” That wasn’t true though. He had the books Amy helped him pick out. And the neater book she had found somewhere that she planned on giving to him for his birthday. “You put your markers in color order and mine are just thrown somewhere and it’s a miracle if I get the right color. You always have everything you need and I never do. You take everything so seriously and even though you kiss teachers asses you get this cute look on your face and you’re so determined and it’s oddly adorable. What I’m trying to say is—“

“I’m in love-like with you too Pineapples.”

Everything about him stopped moving and he looked at her. “What?”

“I’m in love-like with you too,” she grinned.

“You are?” He couldn’t believe it. "What about Teddy?"

“Yes, I’m serious. I never lie so you have to know I’m telling the truth. And we broke up the night before fourth of July. I hate long distance now. So, you can stop rambling and just kiss me.”

He kissed her like in the movies, cupping her face the same way and acting dramatic as possible while making it good. Music played in his head but knew how ridiculous that was to pretend to be going on. Amy laughed at him knowing exactly what he was doing but it was the best kiss she had had.

 

 

 

Eventually they had made their way on her bed. The kissing stopped not too long after that and they just laid together. Amy’s back pressed into his torso like a matching puzzle piece. She watched his hand lace with hers not staying there for long and stroking her hand slowly. While he did that she started talking about school that was less than two weeks away. The topic moved to college and Jake went silent, listening to how excited she got talking about it all. He brought up again how she was smart enough for college but she pouted and said she wouldn’t want to be there. All he really wanted was to go with her wherever she was going but that was wishful thinking at that moment. She turned over to face him and promised to help find a place for him since she knew a lot of colleges from her search. He agreed and kissed her nose, watching her eyes flutter closed and a smile curl up.

A knock interrupted the quiet they were sitting in and Amy’s mom asking for her. Amy sat up and moved away from Jake, motioning for him to sit up.

“Yes, mamma?”

“Your class schedule came in the mail. Would you liked it?”

“Oh, yes please!” she opened the door quickly and Jake chuckled at her excitement.

“Oh, hello Jake,” her mother peeked in the room as she handed the schedule over. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I’m good at sneaking Mrs. Santiago.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Don’t worry about Jake, mamma. He’s just messing around because he couldn’t actually sneak in a room without waking his mother on the couch. Thanks for telling me by the way.” She looked at the folded piece of paper again not having unfolded it.

“It’s nice to see you as always, Jake. You two have fun,” she smiled and walked away.

“I must have mine at home.” Jake moved to her at the now closed door. 

“Run and go get it. I won’t look until you have yours.”

“I’ll be back soon,” he leaned forward and pecked her cheek before rushing to the window and climbing out easily. Halfway to his house he sent a quick message to her.

 _Can I say I miss you? :P_

 ** _Just find the letter, Peralta! (But, like always, you can. Still very cheesy <3)_**

He laughed and reached his house quickly. Opening his mailbox he found it empty which left him, disappointed. Looking down his driveway he saw his car that he had left for his mom to drive to work there. He ran inside and walked down the small hallway to the living room looking around for her. It was empty and quiet but her books were on the table in front of the couch.

“Hey mom?” He peeked into the kitchen not finding her there either. “Where’s the mail?”

“I can’t hear you!” Her voice came from her bedroom. “Just come in here!”

He followed her voice to her room and paused in the doorway cautious of going into the bathroom. “You’re not naked are you?”

“No, com on in.” She opened the door to show her in a nice dress, working on putting her hair up. “What are you looking for?”

“I can’t find the mail but, wait, what are you so dressed up for?”

“I’m going out with friends tonight. No big deal. The mail is on the counter by the way.”

“You know I don’t check the counter.”

“Exactly,” she smiled and winked at him.

“Well, have fun with your friends,” he moved from the doorway.

“Oh, hey, did you do that thing with Amy that you still haven’t told me what it was?” She stopped him from walking away.

“Yeah, it went good.”

“And it was…?”

“I got her pregnant. Went absolutely perfect.” He dodged the brush she threw his way. “I’m kidding! That’s child abuse, you know.”

“Is not!”

“Will it make you feel better that no matter what gender it is, we’ll name it after you?”

“Oh, yes, _of course._ Thank you.” She rolled her eyes and caught the brush Jake tossed back at her.

“Hey, no problem!”

“Okay, just get your mail.” She shook her head wondering what she was going to do with him.

“So rude,” he backed out of her room and went back to the kitchen. He flipped through the mail ignoring all her magazines and coupons that she always got. He found the envelope with his schools name labeled on it with his name stickered on. Never before had he been excited to get his class schedule inked into yellow paper.

“I’m going back to Santiago’s!” He called to nothing in particular.

“Is your report card in there?” she was in the doorway, startling him.

“I can’t open it until I get back to Amy’s. I promised no peeking.”

“I’ll open it.”

“I’ll text you a pic?”

“Jake,” she held out an open hand using her mom voice, “report card. _Now._ ”

He sighed and handed her the envelope. She opened it carefully, torturing him slowly while he had to watch. When she got it open, she gave him his folded schedule. He tried moving out of the kitchen but she stopped him with a held out hand. He was positive his grades weren’t good. Around the end of the first semester he began to care less about trying so, his grades probably dropped considerably. Especially test grades… Though, most of them he saw they were decent. The look on her face destroyed his fears.

 “All A’s except for math? Jake, why were afraid to show me?” She showed him the grades.

“It’s a low B and the A’s are just rounded into a 90. I didn’t think they were your perfect,” he shrugged.

“B’s are the one grade I ask for but six A’s… that’s reaching beyond what I ask. I’ll make you something special tomorrow night, okay? What do you want?” She was ecstatic.

“You know my favorite,” he smiled back to her. She nodded and let him go. Before he left the kitchen he paused tapping on the doorframe trying to get the words out that were stuck in his throat. “Hey, can Amy join? I know it’s kind of a celebration for me but we should celebrate for her too. You know, because she’s so smart and all.”

“As long as I get her favorite meal too.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“What happened?” She watched his small nervous behavior. “You’re acting all… I don’t know, nervous and happy. Something serious happened, didn’t it?”

“I’’ tell you at dinner tom. Promise.” He held out his pinky to her. She took it gladly and smiled at her son. When he pulled his hand away she grabbed him and hugged him tight. She ignored his protests as any mom would and kissed his cheek proudly. 

"You're everything I could ask for in a kid."

His struggles stopped. In her voice there was something that him made him think she had wanted more kids with his dad. More Peralta's running around the house. It made him sad but he smiled. "And same goes for you. Mom wise."

"Good, now, go on and get back to Amy."

"Have a good night."

"You too."

 

 

 

 "What took you so long?"

"I ran into my mom which turned into showing my grades then she and to elaborate about it and then tried asking about you." He sat beside her on the bed, folding his schedule up more. "Which reminds me, she wants you to have dinner with us."

"Oh, okay, sure," she smiled.

"What's your favorite meal? She needs to know."

"Oh, don't make me answer that! I can't decide."

"Think about it and tell me later."

"Okay, time to reveal because I feel like you're delaying this." She unfolded the folder not looking at it yet but when Jake looked away from her she skimmed over it quickly. Her eyes caught on Holt first. Other people said he was the worst teacher to have senior year. Just when they want to work less and relax Holt throws all sorts of work on his students. It's just what she wanted. But it was the opposite for Jake.

"Holt," he groaned after reading the name. "I would have taken anyone but him. Even McGinley."

"Holt is advanced... Did you sign up for that?"

"Well, I made a high ninety so, I figured what the hell."

"Holt's good though."

"To you maybe."

"When do you have him then?" She tried peeking over at his schedule.

"First, you?"

"First."

"When do you have lunch? I've got it fifth."

"Thank, God, me too."

They had three core classes together since felt confident enough to sign up for advanced -except for math- and lunch. Four classes were good, no, _great_ in Jake's words. _Amazing_ in Amy's. _But no, fantastic,_ Jake had mentioned again and they went on for awhile listing off big adjectives for how good it was. After that and going over their schedules Amy suggested a movie and she let him pick without argument. They sat close to each other, Jake's arm around her shoulders and her head on his shoulder. Neither Marcos nor her mom said anything to them about it.

"I'm so excited for Amy to come over!" Jake's mom straightened the utensils on the table again.

"It's just a dinner," but he straightened the tie he wore to Amy's when he had dinner with her parents. "And this isn't the first time she's been over."

"Then why are you dressed so nice?" She brought one of the two meals she had made to the table setting it in the center carefully.

"Yeah, well, you're dressed nice too." He nodded to her fancy shirt and jacket with her nicest necklace that dangled low and clinked together when the circular items bumped together.

"Honey, I always dress nice. You don't dress nice for anything but picture day and that's mostly because I make you. Can you hand me the napkins?" She pointed vaguely toward the counter.

He walked over and grabbed a handful from the pile looking at the delicate pattern for a quick second and handed them to her. "Yeah, well...whatever."

The doorbell rang and he tensed up but his mother kept working on arranging the food on the table. Moving to the door he tried ignoring the odd nervousness he had suddenly. Amy grinned at him when he opened the door and held up a pan covered in tinfoil. She said her mom made them a dessert. Taking it from her hands she took her think jacket off, that looked a lot like his moms, to show her purple blouse that made her look older. Now they were all dressed up and he found he needed to ask her now before his mom came in interrupting them.

"Are we dating?" They hadn't said anything about it since he had confessed and they only kissed. They hadn't decided anything and he didn't even ask hen he gave her a kiss goodnight because he'd only assumed.

"We never made it official. We can if you want. I wouldn't say no if you asked." 

"Okay, cool. No big deal or anything..."

"Are going to ask or...?"

"Right now?"

"I only assumed you were going to do it right now."

He dropped to one knee, unable to make the situation not comical. Looking up at her with that puppy dog look and held the pan out to her as if it was a ring he started talking in nice voice. "Amy Santiago, I spent no money on this dessert since I stole. Will you go out with me officially? You have to say yes."

She looked down at him and laughed and he loved it. "Yes I'll be your girlfriend. No get up Peralta, I think your mom's coming."

He stood back up next to her and gave her a smile before his mom came up to them and gave Amy a hug. She made them go to the kitchen rushing them to the table. Taking the dessert from Jake she told Amy to thank her mom for her. Jake sat on one side of the square table and Amy sat to his right while his mom sat to his left.

Dinner went smoothly. His mom caught up with their lives as she doesn't get to see Amy often and Jake never talked much about his days. Jake's right hand had moved under the table finding Amy's easily and took it. Amy spoke politely to her as ever when she told stories of her days with him. He added details that weren't exactly true which she denied completely trying to stay on track which was hard with him there. It was a lot of 'Then we...' add crazy detail here from Jake and 'That _did not_ happen; from Amy. His mom laughed a lot through their stories, mostly at them.

"So, what did you do yesterday?" She asked the two kids in front of her. "Anything fun?"

Jake caught the blush creep on Amy's face, knowing exactly which part of the day she was thinking of. "Nothing much. Just sat around and watched a movie or two."

"Did Jake tell you that thing yesterday? He won't tell me because he's secretive."

"The liking me thing?"

"Oh, liking you hm?" she looked at Jake who ignored her and stared at his food. "Well, how did all of that go?" They both hesitated before holding their linked hands together over the table and she grinned. "That's so sweet! Is this your first date then?"

"Oh..." he looked at Amy ho looked almost as surprised as he did. "I guess it is. Shitty first date right?" His mom slapped his arm at his language. Like he hadn't said anything worse before.

"I like it."

"Who would like some dessert then? To celebrate."

"No celebrating," Jake groaned at her attitude.

"I don't mind." Amy squeezed his hand and he returned it because maybe it wouldn't be _so_ bad.

 

 

During the next two weeks following up to school, they didn't see much of each other finding themselves busy on different days getting school supplies. Amy's older brother came by to visit unexpectedly the week of school starting. Or at least Jake thought it was unexpected but then he suddenly remembered the moment he got out of bed that morning that they were there for her birthday that was going to be during school. He started planning her birthday . Still, he had two weeks left but he was already behind.

After spending most of the day planning -still in his boxers and t shirt- Amy texted him about how she was going to lose her mind if she stayed alone with her family any longer. He put his planning away and got dressed to go over. On his way out he picked a few flowers for a small bouquet. The walk over didn't take long as it usually never did and when he go there, there were plenty of cars parked outside the house. Now the big house seemed small. He knocked on the door unsure of what he would be greeted to.

"Thank God you're here. These kids are killing me." Looking down he saw to kids attached to each leg and two more running around her.

"Looks like you've got a full house." He stepped in seeing the floor covered in toys.

"Are those flowers?"

"They're for your mom because, as you know, I'm quite the charmer." He just wanted to get on her good side, even though he was already there but just a precaution.

" _Sure,"_ but she smiled.

"How many of your brothers are here?" he maneuvered around the toys, almost stepping on an innocent panda wearing a blue bow tie.

"All of them." The children running around her in circles scampered into the kitchen where he assumed everyone was. "Only Miguel was supposed to come but they all were free apparently so they came here. It was surely a surprise."

"Then this really _is_ a packed out."

"We're used to it." She peeled the arms off her legs and once they were detached they ran off in the kitchen yelling about stranger danger. An older man that looed a lot like their father came out first then was followed by the other brothers and lastly the Santiago parents. They all looked at him curiously.

"Who is this, Amy?" The first man looked confused at the surprise guest.

"This is Jake."

"Oh, this is the one mamma says you talk about a lot."

She ignored the smile he had. "Get ready, Jake, because I'm going to tell you all of their names." She turned to him and snapped her fingers in his face as he wasn't paying attention. They were all staring at him and he was staring at all of them. "Are you paying attention?"

"Yeah, one hundred percent."

"Okay, oldest is Miguel..."

 

 

All the names were too much at one time for Jake. Were the twins Sebastian and David and which was which? Who was the one under Miguel? Was Julian pronounced with an H like all J's usually are in Spanish? (so he wasn't paying one hundred percent attention but he tried.) His brain as melting though and he still had to be introduced to the kids. By the time the introductions were done and the parents convinced the kids that Jake was okay and not dangerous, one of the twins pointed out the flowers. He gave them to her mom, almost embarrassed for getting caught holding them. They were put in a vase quickly and while she was in the kitchen, all the brothers sat him down, asking question after question. Amy tried to get them to back off but so many questions were being put out that they ignored her. Jake did his best to answer them as honestly as he could but he was even more scared of the others. Marcos was still cool about it because that one dinner as him being messed with.

They finally got away from her family after they were done with the investigation and found silence from her room. No room was safe from toys, Jake found out. The two of them them sat on the floor in front of her bed facing each other, legs crossed. Jake tucked a loose hair behind her ear and she buried her cheek in the palm of his hand, closing her eyes with a smile.

"You're family is super intimidating," he broke the silence.

"They're not so bad when you get to know them." She took his hand from her cheek and laced their fingers together.

"Yeah, but Julian? or was it Dante... the one under Miguel." Amy laughed at his confusion because he was wrong about both names. It was actually Leonardo (Leo for short). "He was basically glaring daggers at me. We didn't even do anything couple-y so, could he have known? You said you haven't told anyone."

"He's just very protective... and he might know."

"Now it makes sense."

"Should we tell them all?" She looked at him, scared. "I mean, it's been two weeks and your mom found out the day of. Literally no one knows except her and Kylie. Oh, and Leo. How should we tell them anyway? Just all at once? Oh, what about all our friends? What--"

"Ames, calm down," he took her other hand, helping her calm down easier. "When it happens, it happens. We don't have to _plan_ to tell anyone. Just let it happen."

"Should we tell them tonight?"

"If you want to."

"It's nerve wracking."

"It's your family."

"I know but... you're not Teddy," she looked away feeling bad as she said it. "Do you know how upset some of them were when we broke up? 'Oh, he was such a good guy!' and 'you two were a perfect match!' Long distance sucks and he's so boring. I don't want to date an exact copy of me."

"That's why you chose me."

"Well, I didn't _have_ to," she smiled at him anyway.

"You're so mean to me," he pretended to pout.

"Only because you get the cutest pout on your face." She leaned close to him, that smile not disappearing.

He pouted some more. "That hurt my feelings."

Amy fake pouted instantly and bat her eyelashes at him. "Aw, poor baby. Do you need something sweet to cheer you up, like ice cream?" Her bottom lip stuck out a great distance.

"I could use something else. Something just as sweet."

Her head tilted a fraction. "Yeah, and what's that?"

He inched closer glancing at her lips as he moved closer. "Even you should know with your zero knowledge on these things."

"Then you really don't know me." She kissed him before he could say anything back. He smirked and pulled her closer to him. Yeah, she really liked dating him much better than Teddy. 

They chose to tell everyone later because she found it was better to do it sooner than later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super late and super long but I hop you enjoy it! I'm thinking that the next chapter will be shorter and just them going to school and everyone finding out. It won't be much but I think it'll be a cute ending.


	12. Chapter 12

 

Three weeks into August and two into school (a whole month of dating) Jake was driving Amy to school when suddenly he looked at her. "Today's your birthday! You're seventeen! I have the perfect song for this moment. Oh my god this is amazing." He untangled their hands and managed to get a tape in the slot and a familiar song started.

"Yeah and yours was yesterday." Amy bobbed her head to the beat. "You've seen dirty dancing?"

"What? You have? I thought it was from mamma Mia."

"Its originally from dirty dancing."

He looked disappointed for a second but then he started singing to her, making her laugh.

 

_You're the dancing queen_

_Young and sweet_

_Only seventeen_

_You can dance, you can jive,_

_Having the time of your life._

 

She couldn't help but sing along because no one could resist singing along to it. (Add more). As it cut off he took her hand back and looked at and she expected something really serious but knowing Jake.... "I'm giving you my crown because I'm eighteen. I've been searching for the perfect person and Amy Santiago, you are it."

"Why not find? At least she can dance." He parked in his regular spot and turned off the car.

"She'll be eighteen soon. And because I love you." Oh, he hadn't said that before. When he admitted her feelings he'd said he was in love, no in like, with her. Never before had a said exactly I love you.

"You love love me or you just want me to be your dancing queen?"

"I love love you." He had those puppy dog eyes and dammit it was nearly perfect. "You should just be my queen though. You suck at dancing."

"If we weren't in a parking lot surrounded by people we know, I would kiss you because I love you too."

"We can still kiss. You want people to know." He inched closer to her and she pushed his face away and gave him a pointed stare.

"You didn't help me figure out how to tell them and you still refuse to help. You're out of luck. No more kisses until after school."

"I told you! Just use public affection and let them figure out. Besides," he dropped his voice as if they were around people but she liked it. Deep and husky (ew), "we could always sneak somewhere."

She really pushed his face away then and opened the door. "You wish! Let's go, I don't want to be late." She morphed into the crowd of students walking along the side walk to the building.

"Amy!" He caught up to her easily. "I've got an idea. You have a birthday party coming up, right? Your mom doesn't hold back on them ever?"

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Don't even mention it to me. She wants it just as big as my sweet sixteen. All I want is a few friends and a SMALL party. She's just so--"

"How about I convince her of a small party, she really likes me you know, and I could ask you to be my girlfriend in front of all our friends? It will be my gift to you. A cute card, maybe flowers, you know, girlfriend stuff."

"Yeah, good luck convincing mom of that."

"So, it's a yes?"

"Its a yes."

He wanted to kiss her so bad but he had to hold the urge in.

 

 

  
 Amy got to have her small party that Friday that turned I to a medium sized party because she combined Jakes with hers. They had it down on her basement with minimal decorations (blue and yellow ribbons, plates, cups, etc.) and a food table. The parents were allowed down for cake and gifts but after that they would mingle in the kitchen. Gina, Rosa, Charles, Terry, and Kylie were all invited and they all showed up with gifts for the two. Amy was still in her room deciding what to wear. Shed never really dressed so casually at a birthday party. She ended up with a purple blouse and jeans and let her hair down and wore some flats. Perks of a birthday is getting new clothes she needed and wanted. As she messed with her hair there was a soft knock on her door.

"Come in!" She fluffed up her hair a little, expecting her mom but it wasn't.

"I like that color on you."

"Oh, Jake," she looked at him in the mirror, "why aren't you downstairs?"

"I wanted to check up on you. Just about everyone is here." He's behind her very close and just watches her primp herself. "Needed to know if you had run away or something. Besides, I got a gift for you that I didn't want everyone to see. It'd be weird to give it to you just after asking you out."

She's confused because he said her gift was himself. It was enough for her but not him apparently. To be fully honest she was surprised he didn't beg her to do the big party too. So she watched him reach in his pocket then pause.

"Close your eyes." He had that mischevious grin and she obeyed. Cold metal slipped around the front of her neck and she knew it was a necklace immediately.

"Oh my god Jake, it's beautiful." Its a silver hallowed out heart encrusted with what looks like diamonds but she's pretty sure they're not real, and an infinity band is in the middle, looping around the hearts sides. "How... It looks so expensive. I can't take this."

"Its cheap, I swear. Well, I don't want to sound like a cheap boyfriend. It was actually only about thirty bucks but that's only because I got our initials on the back. I'm a sucker for good deals... I know you don't like expensive gifts."

"Jake, it's perfect." She turned around and looked up at him. "I didn't mean to... Its absolutely perfect. Beast gift of the night." She moved up to kiss him and felt him smile. "I actually got you something. Two somethings... Anniversary gift and birthday gift."

"Oh, Ames, you didn't have to."

"I'm good at finding deals too!" She rushed over to her bookshelf and grabbed a box and a book. He recognized it immediately.

"I know you might prefer your dads copy because, well, its his, but I got like an original copy actually owned by a cop and he's got notes in it and I think you'll enjoy it. There's a really good dedication in the back. Read it again just to read the notes." She gave it to him with the box on top that oddly looked like it was for a ring."

An eyebrow peaked up. "Are you proposing to me?"

"Just open it." She lightly jumped on the balls of her feet and its adorable to watch her get so excited. Inside is a necklace holding a metal rectangle. There's words on it too. 'Ames and Pineapples 4ever.' "I know you don't like jewelry so you can, like, hide it under your shirt or something. I got a matching ring... I know the forever might seem farfetched since we've been dating only a month but it was already there so I just--"

"Amy, it's all I could ever ask for." Its like looking at a little kid in a candy store when looking at him. "We've been friends much longer. It counts. I wouldn't have hated a ring either."  
A look of terror appears on her face and her shoulders drop. "I can get a ring and return the necklace if you want!"

"I love the necklace." He kissed her like she had done to him, "and you. I love you."

"I know," her eyes were still closed and she looked so happy. "I love you too and my gift."

"Gold-digger."

 

 

 

They joined the room minutes apart to not raise too many eyebrows. Amy's mom wanted to do cake and gifts first so the two took turns opening gifts and cards from their friends. They then sat in front of their designated cakes and listened to them all sing way off key. Their moms took pictures as they blew the candles out. All the adults (and sibling) left and Jake winked at her before standing in front of all their friends. He told them loudly he had a surprise present for Amy. Neither had told their parents the plan in case it messed up. So he did what he did the first time asking her out at his house minus the dessert and adding a small bundle of flowers. Gina started recording the whole thing once he made the announcement knowing it was going to be good. Amy laughed at him and said yes like she was supposed to. Jake hopped back up on his feet and went for a kiss but Amy tried a high five and ended up hitting him in his face.

"Worst couple award goes to Jake and Amy!" Gone gave them both cake in place of a trophy.

Kylie sat next to Amy on the couch munching on her slice of cake. "So, it finally happened, huh?"

"Yeah, Actually more like a month ago but still." Amy kept her voice quiet in case anyone was listening. Kylie just nodded, understanding Amy's antics on getting news out in the perfect way.

Kylie leaned forward to look at Jake who was on Amy's right side. "I might hate you less now that you finally grew a pair. Maybe prom will be nice this year."

"Prom!" Jake had forgotten that was actually a thing. "Amy, you should go with me!"

She had forgotten too but he wasn't doing anything huge like hiring a band or a choir to ask her so she was good with him not giving her a choice. "Yeah, okay."

 

 

Senior year for all of them was insane but what really made it for Amy was gaining  Holt's approval. Also being with Jake, _obviously._ By winter the two started to really decide where to go for college. Amy at a university and Jake at a community college nearby. Of course Jake made a no-talking-about-college-until-may rule. Unless she got accepted. They went with all their friends to Winter Formal even if most of the guys thought it was a bit dumb. Rosa too.

Their puppy love had calmed down considerably by then but they were sill very infatuated with each other. They texted and called and hung out for hours and Jake let her talk about anything because she always got so excited. Even school related topics didn't annoy him often. Most days he talked about dumb things and listened to her laugh when he told a good joke. They were just friends with the title of boyfriend and girlfriend. Amy pushed him to do more homework making him excel in all his classes. She tried suggesting he could actually go to her university but he shrugged it off like he always did. The thought seemed terrifying. But he considered it.

By Valentines Day they had had a few fights. A couple of them were public but Jake was still Jake and he did and said dumb things. By the time they were over they forgot what the fight was about and Jake made it up to her somehow. On the day of Valentines he had big plans to ask her to prom. Balloons and music and a shit ton of flowers. Just all crazy things. And those popping confetti things. He already knew her answer so he dimmed it down but he made a big poster and kept the balloons and music. It was in front of everyone in the middle of lunch and she had said yes with a big laugh.

Prom was _big._ Amy went shopping with Gina and Rosa to get dresses. Honestly she just wanted to wear the one from the year before but she outgrew it considerably and Gina begged her to never her mom's past prom dresses. So Gina threw some dresses at her she hated and Rosa grabbed some she thought were okay. While waiting on Gina to change, a drwss caught her eye. She told Rosa she would be back. It was pink/maroon with a cool broken apart fabric that would wrap around her shoulders. The waist was high and the skirt flowed down and she practically fell in love. She bought it after trying it on. 

Jake had a matching and corsage for her. He picked her up which meant a ton of pictures of them together from her mom. She felt nervous because last year she had only dated Teddy for maybe two weeks. Now she had been dating Jake for eight months. Maybe she had no reaso to be nervous but seriously, it was prom. 

They got there on time and met up with all their friends. Rosa went with Marcus, rocking her black sequined dress that she might have torn some off between buying it. Terry was with his girlfriend in matching blue. Gina and Charles went together only because Gina wanted couples tickets as to not pay as much money alone for just one. She had a bright, tight dress with maybe more sequins than necessary. Kylie's boyfriend came from out of state (a college boy) to go with her. She had a beautiful purple dress. 

The theme was 'love under the stars' and all the decorations had to do with space and a moon hovered center stage. They all did pictires first not wanting to wait long. Jake begged her to make it look awkward and she complied feeling in a good mood. Amy didn't dance much to the fast music so when it came on she made Jake go dance and she sat quietly with Rosa quietly. It almost felt surreal that they were almost done with a part of their lives that they spent thirteen years struggling through. She snapped out of her thoughts when Jake sat back next to her getting tired and he held her hand and stared talking animatedly about how much fun prom was. She probably looked tired or bored but she wasnt at all.

All of a sudden he stops talking when a Taylor Swift song comes on. "Hey, Amy, wanna slow dance with me?" 

"Yeah, sure." Both seemed to forget for just a moment she was a really shitty dancer.

Jake pulled her up from her seat and led her to the middle of the dance floor. They moved in circles only looking at each other. "I never told never how to pretty you look."

"You freshen up pretty nicely yourself too." She straightened his tie with one hand out of odd habit. 

"I'm like James Bond and your... Maxi Pad my beautiful lady in crime." 

"Maxi Pad?" 

"Couldn't think of anything appropriately sexy."

"How about just Amy?"

"Yeah... Amy Santiago is very sexy."

She stepped on foot on purpose. "Watch it."

"You're so mean to me. Do you get off on that?" She stepped on his foot again so he decided it was a good idea to shut up. She didn't say anything for awhile and neither did he so they continued in their circle. Around them were her friends dancing and everyone she knew. Her, no, _their_  high school life so close to being over. As was the song but that was the last thought on her mind.

"You really want to go to college near me? You shouldn't have to follow me." She broke their silence. 

"Are you breaking up with me?" He had those worried puppy eyes and she felt bad for phrasing the question that way. 

"What? No!"

"Good, because I got accepted to your uni and that would have just been so awkward. And crappy." 

Her eyes lit up with excitement. "You applied?!"

"Of course I did. I don't really want to leave you and like you said, i was smart enough to go so what the hell? I'll go. You're doing that summer thing aren't you? I'd miss you like hell since the community didn't want me."

"It's just one summe, Jake."

"A summer without you. And almost a year." 

"We've got a lot more summer's ahead of us."

"Just barely. Then we're adults."

"So four summers. Not so bad."

"So you're going to keep me?" It was a lighthearted joking question but he meant it. 

"Only as long as you don't annoy me too much." She knew it was too much to ask for. He could annoy her easily but he could also make her so happy too. Another slow song came on and they kept circling aroung one spot. 

"Sophomore year, we should live together," he suggested it with a grin.

"So now you're open to talk about college?" Nearly three months she had been trying to talk to him about it now he was so willing. It made her want to punch his adorably cute annoying face.

"I got accepted!! Didn't you?"

"Of course I did!" She laughed at his excitement. 

"So tell me what I need. I'm hopelessly clueless and you're more prepared than I am."

"I've seen your room Peralta. I don't think living together will do any good."

"I'm a teenage boy." His usual comeback to any of his antics.

She sighed and knew he really wanted to mive in with her and she did too. "If you keep your dorm clean, _all year,_   I'll consider it."

"You think we'll be together after college?"

"I'm not marrying _in_  college."

"You'd marry me?"

"I'm not saying yes right now." 

The song cut off and they heard someone tell all the seniors to move to the dance floor for the balloon drop and he just stayed close to her and seemed to take note of all the details of that moment. She smiled sheepishly because of course she would marry him if they stayed together that long. She knew all his soft points and just how to get him there and she knew how to calm him down when he was angry or upset and he knew the exact same for her. Besides, he probably knew too much about her and she couldn't let him run. Mostly she was damn commited to not be like her parents but she definitely couldn'tlet him run. He wouldn't let her get too far from him either. 

"So... just one summer?" They counted down till the balloons fell from the net but they didnt care about them at that moment.

"Just one summer."

"Then we'll be togther after that. For as long as we want." She felt butterflies as he moved to kiss her. She knew just how much he loved her. She just knew. 

"One!!" An excited voice yelled over the speakers and she listened to everyone yell and laugh and it was just how she felt inside. Yeah, Jake was hers and she was his and she was perfectly fine with it. She'd never forget her summer. Their summer. The summer that them together in ways she never believed would happen to them. The summer she'd never forget ever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it guys! I really enjoyed writing this and I hope all of you really enjoyed reading it!!


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